TARZAN 

the  Untamed 


The  limb  bent  beneath  the  weight  of  the  two. 

Page  18 


T  A  R  Z  A  N 

THE  UNTAMED 


BY 

EDGAR  RICE  BURROUGHS 


AUTHOR  OF 

JUNGLE  TALES  OF  TARZAN, 
THE  WARLORD  OF  MARS. 
THE  GODS  OF  MARS,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

J.  ALLEN  ST.  JOHN 


GROSSET    &    DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS  NEWYORK 

Made  in  the  United  6tate»  of  America 


Copyright 

Edgar  Rice  Burroughs 
1920 


Published  April,  1920 


iff  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     Murder    and    Pillage 2 

II     The    Lion's    Cave 20 

III     In  the  German  Lines 41 

IV     When   the   Lion   Fed 55 

V     The  Golden  Locket 77 

VI     Vengeance  and  Mercy 98 

VII     When  Blood  Told 114 

VIII     Tarzan  and  the  Great  Apes 129 

IX     Dropped   from  the    Sky 155 

X     In  the  Hands  of  Savages 177 

XI     Finding  the  Airplane 199 

XII     The  Black  Flier 216 

XIII     Usanga's   Reward 228 

XIV     The  Black  Lion 240 

XV     Mysterious   Footprints 257 

XVI     The  Night  Attack 276 

XVII     The   Walled    City 289 

XVIII     Among  the  Maniacs 305 

XIX  The  Queen's  Story    ........  S26 

XX     Came  Tarzan 350 

XXI     In  the  Alcove 363 

XXII     Out  of  the  Niche 382 

XXIII     The  Flight  from  Xuja 396 

XXIV  The  Tommies  .                                            .  416 


TARZAN 

the  Untamed 


Tarzan  the  Untamed 


CHAPTER  I 

MURDER    AND    PILLAGE 

HAUPTMANN  FRITZ  SCHNEIDER  trudged 
wearily  through  the  somber  aisles  of  the  dark 
forest.  Sweat  rolled  down  his  bullet  head  and  stood 
upon  his  heavy  jowls  and  bull  neck.  His  lieutenant 
marched  beside  him  while  Unterlieutenant  von  Goss 
brought  up  the  rear,  following  with  a  handful  of 
askaris  the  tired  and  all  but  exhausted  porters  whom 
the  black  soldiers,  following  the  example  of  their 
white  officer,  encouraged  with  the  sharp  points  of 
bayonets  and  the  metal-shod  butts  of  rifles. 

There  were  no  porters  within  reach  of  Hauptmann 
Schneider  so  he  vented  his  Prussian  spleen  upon  the 
askaris  nearest  at  hand,  yet  with  greater  circumspec 
tion  since  these  men  bore  loaded  rifles  —  and  the 
three  white  men  were  alone  with  them  in  the  heart 
of  Africa. 

Ahead  of  the  Hauptmann  marched  half  his  com 
pany,  behind  him  the  other  half  —  thus  were  the 
dangers  of  the  savage  jungle  minimized  for  the 
German  captain.  At  the  forefront  of  the  columni 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


staggered  two  naked  savages  fastened  to  each  other 
by  a  neck  chain.  These  were  the  native  guides 
impressed  into  the  service  of  Kultur  and  upon  their 
poor,  bruised  bodies  Kultur's  brand  was  revealed  in 
divers  cruel  wounds  and  bruises. 

Thus  even  in  darkest  Africa  was  the  light  of  Ger 
man  civilization  commencing  to  reflect  itself  upon 
the  undeserving  natives  just  as  at  the  same  period, 
the  fall  of  1914,  it  was  shedding  its  glorious 
•effulgence  upon  benighted  Belgium. 

It  is  true  that  the  guides  had  led  the  party 
astray  ;  but  this  is  the  way  of  most  African  guides. 
Nor  did  it  matter  that  ignorance  rather  than  evil 
intent  had  been  the  cause  of  their  failure.  It  was 
enough  for  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  to  know 
that  he  was  lost  in  the  African  wilderness  and  that 
he  had  at  hand  human  beings  less  powerful  than  he 
•who  could  be  made  to  suffer  by  torture.  That 
he  did  not  kill  them  outright  was  partially  due  to  a 
faint  hope  that  they  might  eventually  prove  the 
means  of  extricating  him  from  his  difficulties  and 
partially  that  so  long  as  they  lived  they  might  still 
be  made  to  suffer. 

The  poor  creatures,  hoping  that  chance  might 
lead  them  at  last  upon  the  right  trail,  insisted  that 
they  knew  the  way  and  so  led  on  through  a  dismal 
forest  along  a  winding  game  trail  trodden  deep  by 
the  feet  of  countless  generations  of  the  savage  deni 
zens  of  the  jungle. 

Here  Tantor,  the  elephant,  took  his  long  way 
.from  dust  wallow  to  water.  Here  Buto,  the  rhinoc- 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE 


eros,  blundered  blindly  in  his  solitary  majesty,  while 
by  night  the  great  cats  paced  silently  upon  their 
padded  feet  beneath  the  dense  canopy  of  overreach 
ing  trees  toward  the  broad  plain  beyond  where  they 
found  their  best  hunting. 

It  was  at  the  edge  of  this  plain  which  came  sud 
denly  and  unexpectedly  before  the  eyes  of  the  guides 
that  their  sad  hearts  beat  with  renewed  hope.  Here 
the  Hauptmann  drew  a  deep  sigh  of  relief,  for  after 
days  of  hopeless  wandering  through  almost  impene 
trable  jungle,  the  broad  vista  of  waving  grasses  dot 
ted  here  and  there  with  open  parklike  woods  and  in 
the  far  distance  the  winding  line  of  green  shrubbery 
that  denoted  a  river,  appeared  to  the  European  a. 
veritable  heaven. 

The  Hun  smiled  in  his  relief,  passed  a  cheery  word 
with  his  lieutenant,  and  then  scanned  the  broad  plain 
with  his  field  glasses.  Back  and  forth  they  swept 
across  the  rolling  land  until  at  last  they  came  to  rest 
upon  a  point  near  the  center  of  the  landscape  and 
close  to  the  green-fringed  contours  of  the  river. 

"We  are  in  luck,"  said  Schneider  to  his  com 
panions.  "Do  you  see  it?" 

The  lieutenant  who  was  also  gazing  through  his 
own  glasses,  finally  brought  them  to  rest  upon  the 
same  spot  that  had  held  the  attention  of  his  superior. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "an  English  farm.  It  must  be 
Greystoke's  for  there  is  none  other  in  this  part  of 
British  East  Africa.  God  is  with  us,  Herr 
Captain." 

"We  have  come  up^n  the  English  swinehund  long 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


before  he  can  have  learned  that  his  country  is  at 
war  with  ours,"  replied  Schneider.  "Let  him  be 
the  first  to  feel  the  iron  hand  of  Germany." 

"Let  us  hope  that  he  is  at  home,"  said  the  lieu 
tenant,  "that  we  may  take  him  with  us  when  we 
report  to  Kraut  at  Nairobi.  It  will  go  well  indeed 
with  Herr  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  if  he  brings 
in  the  famous  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  as  a  prisoner  of 
war." 

Schneider  smiled  and  puffed  out  his  chest.  "You 
are  right,  my  friend,"  he  said,  "it  will  go  well  with 
both  of  us ;  but  I  shall  have  to  travel  far  to  catch 
General  Kraut  before  he  reaches  Mombasa.  These 
English  pigs  with  their  contemptible  army  will  make 
good  time  to  the  Indian  Ocean." 

It  was  in  a  better  frame  of  mind  that  the  small 
force  set  out  across  the  open  country  toward  the 
trim  and  well-kept  farm  buildings  of  John  Clayton, 
Lord  Greystoke ;  but  disappointment  was  to  be  their 
lot  since  neither  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  nor  his  son 
were  at  home. 

Lady  Jane,  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  a  state  of 
"war  existed  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany, 
welcomed  the  officers  most  hospitably  and  gave 
orders  through  her  trusted  Waziri  to  prepare  a 
feast  for  the  black  soldiers  of  the  enemy. 

Far  to  the  east,  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  was  traveling 
rapidly  from  Nairobi  toward  the  farm.  At  Nairobi 
Tie  had  received  news  of  the  World  War  that  had 
already  started,  and  anticipating  an  immediate  in- 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE 


vasion  of  British  East  Africa  by  the  Germans,  was 
hurrying  homeward  to  fetch  his  wife  to  a  place  of 
greater  security.  With  him  were  a  score  of  his 
ebon  warriors,  but  far  too  slow  for  the  ape-man 
was  the  progress  of  these  trained  and  hardened! 
woodsmen. 

When  necessity  demanded,  Tarzan  of  the'  Apes 
sloughed  the  thin  veneer  of  his  civilization  and  with 
it  the  hampering  apparel  that  was  its  badge.  In 
a  moment  the  polished  English  gentleman  reverted 
to  the  naked  ape-man. 

His  mate  was  in  danger.  For  the  time  that 
single  thought  dominated.  He  did  not  think  of 
her  as  Lady  Jane  Greystoke,  but  rather  as  the  she 
he  had  won  by  the  might  of  his  steel  thews,  and 
that  he  must  hold  and  protect  by  virtue  of  the  same 
offensive  armament. 

It  was  no  member  of  the  House  of  Lords  wha 
swung  swiftly  and  grimly  through  the  tangled 
forest  or  trod  with  untiring  muscles  the  wide 
stretches  of  open  plain  —  it  was  a  great  he  ape  filled 
with  a  single  purpose  that  excluded  all  thoughts  of 
fatigue  or  danger. 

Little  Manu,  the  monkey,  scolding  and  chatter 
ing  in  the  upper  terraces  of  the  forest,  saw  him 
pass.  Long  had  it  been  since  he  had  thus  beheld 
the  great  Tarmangani  naked  and  alone  hurtling 
through  the  jungle.  Bearded  and  gray  was  Manu, 
the  monkey,  and  to  his  dim  old  eyes  came  the  fire  of 
recollection  of  those  days  when  Tarzan  of  the  Apes 
had  ruled  supreme,  Lord  of  the  Jungle,  over  all 


6  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  myriad  life  that  trod  the  matted  vegetation  be 
tween  the  boles  of  the  great  trees,  or  flew  or  swung 
or  climbed  in  the  leafy  fastnesses  upward  to  the 
very  apex  of  the  loftiest  terraces. 

And  Numa,  lying  up  for  the  day  close  beside 
last  night's  successful  kill,  blinked  his  yellow-green 
eyes  and  twitched  his  tawny  tail  as  he  caught  the 
scent  spoor  of  his  ancient  enemy. 

Nor  was  Tarzan  senseless  to  the  presence  of 
Numa  or  Manu  or  any  of  the  many  jungle  beasts 
he  passed  in  his  rapid  flight  towards  the  west.  No 
particle  had  his  shallow  probing  of  English  society 
dulled  his  marvelous  sense  faculties.  His  nose  had 
picked  out  the  presence  of  Numa,  the  lion,  even 
before  the  majestic  iing  of  beasts  was  aware  of  his 
passing. 

He  had  heard  noisy  little  Manu,  and  even  the 
soft  rustling  of  the  parting  shrubbery  where  Sheeta 
passed  before  either  of  these  alert  animals  sensed 
his  presence. 

But  however  keen  the  senses  of  the  ape-man,  how 
ever  swift  his  progress  through  the  wild  country 
of  his  adoption,  however  mighty  the  muscles  that 
bore  him,  he  was  still  mortal.  Time  and  space 
placed  their  inexorable  limits  upon  him ;  nor  was 
there  another  who  realized  this  truth  more  keenly 
than  Tarzan.  He  chafed  and  fretted  that  he  could 
not  travel  with  the  swiftness  of  thought  and  that 
the  long  tedious  miles  stretching  far  ahead  of  him 
must  require  hours  and  hours  of  tireless  effort  upon 
iis  part  before  he  would  swing  at  last  from  the 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE 


final  bough  of  the  fringing  forest  into  the  open  plain 
and  in  sight  of  his  goal. 

Days  it  took,  even  though  he  lay  up  at  night  for 
but  a  few  hours  and  left  to  chance  the  finding  of 
meat  directly  on  his  trail.  If  Wappi,  the  antelope, 
or  Horta,  the  boar,  chanced  in  his  way  when  he  was 
hungry,  he  ate,  pausing  but  long  enough  to  make 
the  kill  and  cut  himself  a  steak. 

Then  at  last  the  long  journey  drew  to  its  close 
and  he  was  passing  through  the  last  stretch  of  heavy 
forest  that  bounded  his  estate  upon  the  east,  and 
then  this  was  traversed  and  he  stood  upon  the  plain's 
edge  looking  out  across  his  broad  lands  towards  his 
home. 

At  the  first  glance  his  eyes  narrowed  and  his 
muscles  tensed.  Even  at  that  distance  he  could 
see  that  something  was  amiss.  A  thin  spiral  of 
smoke  arose  at  the  right  of  the  bungalow  where 
the  barns  had  stood,  but  there  were  no  barns  there 
now,  and  from  the  bungalow  chimney  from  wh:ch 
smoke  should  have  arisen,  there  arose  nothing. 

Once  again  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  was  speeding 
onward,  this  time  even  more  swiftly  than  before 
for  he  was  goaded  now  by  a  nameless  fear,  more 
the  product  of  intuition  than  of  reason.  Even  as 
the  beasts,  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  seemed  to  possess 
a  sixth  sense.  Long  before  he  reached  the  bungalow, 
he  had  almost  pictured  the  scene  that  finally  broke 
upon  his  view. 

Silent  and  deserted  was  the  vine-covered  cottage. 
Smoldering  embers  marked  the  site  of  his  great 


'8  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

barns.  Gone  were  the  thatched  huts  of  his  sturdy 
retainers,  empty  the  fields,  the  pastures,  and  corrals. 
Here  and  there  vultures  rose  and  circled  above  the 
carcasses  of  men  and  beasts. 

It  was  with  a  feeling  as  nearly  akin  to  terror  as 
he  ever  had  experienced  that  the  ape-man  finally 
forced  himself  to  enter  his  home.  The  first  sight 
that  met  his  eyes  set  the  red  haze  of  hate  and  blood- 
lust  across  his  vision,  for  there,  crucified  against  the 
wall  of  the  living-room,  was  Wasimbu,  giant  son  of 
the  faithful  Muviro  and  for  over  a  year  the  per 
sonal  bodyguard  of  Lady  Jane. 

The  overturned  and  shattered  furniture  of  the 
room,  the  brown  pools  of  dried  blood  upon  the  floor, 
and  prints  of  bloody  hands  on  walls  and  woodwork 
(evidenced  something  of  the  frightfulness  of  the 
battle  that  had  been  waged  within  the  narrow  con 
fines  of  the  apartment.  Across  the  baby-grand  piano 
lay  the  corpse  of  another  black  warrior,  while  before 
the  door  of  Lady  Jane's  boudoir  were  the  dead 
Ibodies  of  three  more  of  the  faithful  Greystoke 
servants. 

The  door  of  this  room  was  closed.  With  drooping 
shoulders  and  dull  eyes  Tarzan  stood  gazing  dumbly 
at  the  insensate  panel  which  hid  from  him  what 
horrid  secret  he  dared  not  even  guess. 

Slowly  with  leaden  feet  he  moved  toward  the  door. 
Gropingly  his  hand  reached  for  the  knob.  Thus  he 
•stood  for  another  long  minute  and  then  with  a 
sudden  gesture  he  straightened  his  giant  frame, 
threw  back  his  mighty  shoulders  and  with  fearless 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  9 

head  held  high,  swung  back  the  door  and  stepped 
across  the  threshold  into  the  room  which  held  for 
him  the  dearest  memories  and  associations  of  his 
life.  No  change  of  expression  crossed  his  grim  and 
stern-set  features  as  he  strode  across  the  room  and 
stood  beside  the  little  couch  and  the  inanimate  form 
which  lay  face  downward  upon  it;  the  still,  silent 
thing  that  had  pulsed  with  life  and  youth  and  love. 

No  tear  dimmed  the  eye  of  the  ape-man;  but  the 
God  who  made  him  alone  could  know  the  thoughts 
that  passed  through  that  still  half-savage  brain. 
For  a  long  time  he  stood  there  just  looking  down 
upon  the  dead  body,  charred  beyond  recognition, 
and  then  he  stooped  and  lifted  it  in  his  arms.  As 
he  turned  the  body  over  and  saw  how  horribly  death 
had  been  meted  he  plumbed,  in  that  instant,  the 
uttermost  depths  of  grief  and  horror  and  hatred. 

Nor  did  he  require  the  evidence  of  the  broken 
German  rifle  in  the  outer  room,  or  the  torn  and 
blood-stained  service  cap  upon  the  floor,  to  tell  him 
who  had  been  the  perpetrators  of  this  horrid  and 
useless  crime. 

For  a  moment  he  had  hoped  against  hope  that  the 
blackened  corpse  was  not  that  of  his  mate,  but  when 
his  eyes  discovered  and  recognized  the  rings  upon 
her  fingers  the  last  faint  ray  of  hope  forsook  him. 

In  silence,  in  love,  and  in  reverence  he  buried,  in 
the  little  rose  garden  that  had  been  Jane  Clayton's 
pride  and  love,  the  poor,  charred  form  and  beside 
it  the  great  black  warriors  who  had  given  their  lives 
so  futilely  in  their  mistress'  protection. 


10  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

At  one  side  of  the  house  Tarzan  found  other 
newly  made  graves  and  in  these  he  sought  final  evi 
dence  of  the  identity  of  the  real  perpetrators  of  the 
atrocities  that  had  been  committed  there  in  his 
absence. 

Here  he  disinterred  the  bodies  of  a  dozen  German 
askaris  and  found  upon  their  uniforms  the  insignia 
of  tht  company  and  regiment  to  which  they  had 
belonged.  This  was  enough  for  the  ape-man.  White 
officers  had  commanded  these  men,  nor  would  it  be 
a  difficult  tafok  to  discover  who  they  were. 

Returning  to  the  rose  garden,  he  stood  among 
the  Hun-trampled  blooms  and  bushes  above  the 
grave  of  his  dead  — with  bowed  head  he  stood  there 
in  a  last  mute  farevell.  As  the  sun  sank  slowly 
behind  the  towering  fo/ests  of  the  west,  he  turned 
slowly  away  upon  the  sti}l-  distinct  trail  of  Haupt- 
mann  Fritz  Schneider  and  his  blood-stained  company. 

His  was  the  suffering  of  the  dumb  brute  —  mute; 
but  though  voiceless  no  leSs  poignant.  At  first  his 
vast  sorrow  numbed  his  other  faculties  of  thought  — 
his  brain  was  overwhelmed  by  the  calamity  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  reacted  to  but  a  single  objective 
suggestion :  She  is  dead !  She  is  dead !  She  is  dead ' 
Again  and  again  this  phrase  beat  monotonously  upon 
his  brain  —  a  dull,  throbbing  pain,  yet  mechanically 
his  feet  followed  the  trail  of  her  slayer  while,  sub-, 
consciously,  his  every  sense  was  upon  the  alert  for 
the  ever-present  perils  of  the  jungle. 

Gradually  the  labor  of  his  great  grief  brought 
forth  another  emotion  so  real,  so  tangible  that  it 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  11 

seemed  a  companion  walking  at  his  side.  It  was 
Hate  —  and  it  brought  to  him  a  measure  of  solace 
and  of  comfort,  for  it  was  a  sublime  hate  that  en 
nobled  him  as  it  has  ennobled  countless  thousands 
since  —  hatred  for  Germany  and  Germans.  It  cen 
tered  about  the  slayer  of  his  mate,  of  course;  but 
it  included  everything  German,  animate  or  inani 
mate.  As  the  thought  took  firm  hold  upon  him  he 
paused  and  raising  his  face  to  Goro,  the  moon, 
cursed  with  upraised  hand  the  authors  of  the  hideous 
crime  that  had  been  perpetrated  in  that  once  peace 
ful  bungalow  behind  him;  and  he  cursed  their 
progenitors,  their  progeny,  and  all  their  kind  the 
while  he  took  silent  oath  to  war  upon  them  relent 
lessly  until  death  overtook  him. 

There  followed  almost  immediately  a  feeling  of 
content,  for  where  before  his  future  at  best  seemed 
but  a  void,  now  it  was  filled  with  possibilities  the 
contemplation  of  which  brought  him,  if  not  happi 
ness,  at  least  a  surcease  of  absolute  grief  for  before 
him  lay  a  great  work  that  would  occupy  his  time. 

Stripped  not  only  of  all  the  outward  symbols  of 
civilization,  Tarzan  had  also  reverted  morally  and 
mentally  to  the  status  of  the  savage  beast  he  had 
been  reared.  Never  had  his  civilization  been  more 
than  a  veneer  put  on  for  the  sake  of  her  he  loved 
because  he  thought  it  made  her  happier  to  see  him 
thus.  In  reality  he  had  always  held  the  outward 
evidences  of  so-called  culture  in  deep  contempt. 
Civilization  meant  to  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  a  curtail 
ment  of  freedom  in  all  its  aspects  —  freedom  of 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


action,  freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  love,  freedom 
of  hate.  Clothes  he  abhorred  —  uncomfortable, 
hideous,  confining  things  that  reminded  him  some 
how  of  bonds  securing  him  to  the  life  he  had  seen 
the  poor  creatures  of  London  and  Paris  living, 
Clothes  were  the  emblems  of  that  hypocrisy  for  which 
civilization  stood  —  a  pretense  that  the  wearers  were 
ashamed  of  what  the  clothes  covered,  of  the  human 
form  made  in  the  semblance  of  God.  Tarzan  knew 
how  silly  and  pathetic  the  lower  orders  appeared 
in  the  clothing  of  civilization,  for  he  had  seen  several 
poor  creatures  thus  appareled  in  various  traveling 
shows  in  Europe,  and  he  knew,  too,  how  silly  and 
pathetic  man  appears  in  them  since  the  only  men 
he  had  seen  in  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  life  had 
been,  like  himself,  naked  savages.  The  ape-man  had 
a  keen  admiration  for  a  well-muscled,  well-propor 
tioned  body,  whether  lion,  or  antelope,  or  man,  and 
it  had  ever  been  beyond  him  to  understand  how 
clothes  could  be  considered  more  beautiful  than  a 
clear,  firm,  healthy  skin,  or  coat  and  trousers  more 
graceful  than  the  gentle  curves  of  rounded  muscles 
playing  beneath  a  flexible  hide. 

In  civilization  Tarzan  had  found  greed  and  self 
ishness  and  cruelty  far  beyond  that  which  he  had 
known  in  his  familiar,  savage  jungle,  and  though 
civilization  had  given  him  his  mate  and  several 
friends  whom  he  loved  and  admired,  he  never  had 
come  to  accept  it  as  you  and  I  who  have  known 
little  or  nothing  else  ;  so  it  was  with  a  sense  of  relief 
that  he  now  definitely  abandoned  it  and  all  that  it 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  13 

stood  for,  and  went  forth  into  the  jungle  once  again 
stripped  to  his  loin  cloth  and  weapons. 

The  hunting  knife  of  his  father  hung  at  his  left 
hip,  his  bow  and  his  quiver  of  arrows  were  slung 
across  his  shoulders,  while  around  his  chest  over 
one  shoulder  and  beneath  the  opposite  arm  was 
coiled  the  long  grass  rope  without  which  Tarzan 
would  have  felt  quite  as  naked  as  would  you  should 
you  be  suddenly  thrust  upon  a  busy  highway  clad 
only  in  a  union  suit.  A  heavy  war  spear  which  he 
sometimes  carried  in  one  hand  and  again  slung  by 
a  thong  about  his  neck  so  that  it  hung  "down  his 
back  completed  his  armament  and  his  apparel.  The 
diamond-studded  locket  with  the  pictures  of  his 
mother  and  father  that  he  had  worn  always  until 
he  had  given  it  as  a  token  of  his  highest  devotion 
to  Jane  Clayton  before  their  marriage  was  missing. 
She  always  had  worn  it  since;  but  it  had  not  been 
upon  her  body  when  he  found  her  slain  in  her 
boudoir  so  that  now  his  quest  for  vengeance  in 
cluded  also  a  quest  for  the  stolen  trinket. 

Toward  midnight  Tarzan  commenced  to  feel  the 
physical  strain  of  his  long  hours  of  travel  and  to 
realize  that  even  muscles  such  as  his  had  their  limi 
tations.  His  pursuit  of  the  murderers  had  not  been 
characterized  by  excessive  speed ;  but  rather  more 
in  keeping  with  his  mental  attitude  which  was 
marked  by  a  dogged  determination  to  require  from 
the  Germans  more  than  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  more 
than  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  the  element  of  time  entering 
but  slightly  into  his  calculations. 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMJ^u 


Inwardly  as  well  as  outwardly  Tarzan  had  re 
verted  to  beast  and  in  the  lives  of  beasts,  time,  as 
a  measurable  aspect  of  duration,  has  no  meaning. 
The  beast  is  actively  interested  only  in  now,  and  as 
it  is  always  now  and  always  shall  be,  there  is  an 
eternity  of  ti-me  for  the  accomplishment  of  objects. 
The  ape-man,  naturally,  had  a  slightly  more  com 
prehensive  realization  of  the  limitations  of  time; 
but,  like  the  beasts,  he  moved  with  majestic  delibera 
tion  when  no  emergency  prompted  him  to  swift 
action. 

Having  dedicated  his  life  to  vengeance,  vengeance 
became  his  natural  state  and,  therefore,  no  emer 
gency,  so  he  took  his  time  in  pursuit.  That  he  had 
not  rested  earlier  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
felt  no  fatigue,  his  mind  being  occupied  by  thoughts 
of  sorrow  and  revenge;  but  now  he  realized  that  he 
was  tired  and  so  he  sought  a  jungle  giant  that  had 
harbored  him  upon  more  than  a  single  other  jungle 
night. 

Dark  clouds  moving  swiftly  across  the  heavens 
now  and  again  eclipsed  the  bright  face  of  Goro,  the 
moon,  and  forewarned  the  ape-man  of  impending 
storm.  In  the  depth  of  the  jungle  the  cloud  shadows 
produced  a  thick  blackness  that  might  almost  be 
felt  —  a  blackness  that  to  you  and  me  misrht  have 
proven  terrifying  with  its  accompaniment  of  rustling 
leaves  and  cracking  twigs,  and  its  even  morp  sug 
gestive  intervals  of  utter  silence  in  which  tho  cmdest 
of  imaginations  might  have  conjured  crunching 
beasts  of  prey  tensed  for  the  fatal  charge;  but 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  15 

through  it  Tarzan  passed  unconcerned  yet  always 
alert.  Now  he  swung  lightly  to  the  lower  terraces 
of  the  overarching  trees  when  some  subtle  sense 
warned  him  that  Numa  lay  upon  a  kill  directly  in 
his  path,  or  again  he  sprang  lightly  to  one  side  as 
Buto,  the  rhinoceros,  lumbered  toward  him  along 
the  narrow,  deep-worn  trail,  for  the  ape-man,  ready 
to  fight  upon  necessity's  slightest  pretext,  avoided 
unnecessary  quarrels. 

When  he  swung  himself  at  last  into  the  tree  he 
sought,  the  moon  was  obscured  by  a  heavy  cloud, 
the  tree  tops  were  waving  wildly  in  a  steadily  in 
creasing  wind  whose  soughing  drowned  the  lesser 
noises  of  the  jungle.  Upward  went  Tarzan  toward 
a  sturdy  crotch  across  which  he  long  since  had  laid 
and  secured  a  little  platform  of  branches.  It  was 
very  dark  now,  darker  even  than  it  had  been  before, 
for  almost  the  entire  sky  was  overcast  by  thick,  black 
clouds. 

Presently  the  man-beast  paused,  his  sensitive  nos 
trils  dilating  as  he  sniffed  the  air  about  him.  Then, 
with  the  swiftness  and  agility  of  a  cat,  he  leaped  far 
outward  upon  a  swaying  branch,  sprang  upward 
through  the  darkness,  caught  another,  swung  him 
self  upon  it  and  then  to  one  still  higher.  What 
could  have  so  suddenly  transformed  his  matter-of- 
fact  ascent  of  the  giant  bole  to  the  swift  and  wary 
action  of  his  detour  among  the  branches?  You  or 
I  could  have  seen  nothing  —  not  even  the  little  plat 
form  that  an  instant  before  had  been  just  above 
him  and  which  now  was  immediately  below — but  as 


16  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

he  swung  above  it  we  should  have  heard  an  ominous 
growl,  and  then  as  the  moon  was  momentarily  un 
covered,  we  should  have  seen  both  the  platform, 
dimly,  and  a  dark  mass  that  lay  stretched  upon  it  — 
a  dark  mass  that  presently,  as  our  eyes  became  ac 
customed  to  the  lesser  darkness,  would  take  the  form 
of  Sheeta,  the  panther. 

In  answer  to  the  cat's  growl,  a  low  and  equally 
ferocious  growl  rumbled  upward  from  the  ape-man's 
deep  chest  —  a  growl  of  warning  that  told  the  panther 
he  was  trespassing  upon  the  other's  lair ;  but  Sheeta 
was  in  no  mood  to  be  dispossessed.  With  upturned, 
snarling  face  he  glared  at  the  brown-skinned  Tar- 
mangani  above  him.  Very  slowly  the  ape-man  moved 
inward  along  the  branch  until  he  was  directly  above 
the  panther.  In  the  man's  hand  was  the  hunting 
knife  of  his  long-dead  father  —  the  weapon  that  had 
first  given  him  his  real  ascendency  over  the  beasts 
of  the  jungle;  but  he  hoped  not  to  be  forced  to  use 
it,  knowing  as  he  did  that  more  jungle  battles  were 
settled  by  hideous  growling  than  by  actual  combat, 
the  law  of  bluff  holding  quite  as  good  in  the  jungle 
as  elsewhere  —  only  in  matters  of  love  and  food  did 
the  great  beasts  ordinarily  close  with  fangs  and 
talons. 

Tarzan  braced  himself  against  the  bole  of  the  tree 
and  leaned  closer  toward  Sheeta. 

"  Stealer  of  balus  ! "  he  cried.  The  panther  rose 
to  a  sitting  position,  his  bared  fangs  but  a  few  feet 
from  the  ape-man's  taunting  face.  Tarzan  growled 
hideously  and  struck  at  the  cat's  face  with  his  knife. 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  17 

"I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,"  he  roared.  "This  is 
Tarzan's  lair.  Go,  or  I  will  kill  you."  Though  he 
spoke  in  the  language  of  the  great  apes  of  the  jungle, 
it  is  doubtful  that  Sheeta  understood  the  words, 
though  he  knew  well  enough  that  the  hairless  ape 
wished  to  frighten  him  from  his  well-chosen  station 
past  which  edible  creatures  might  be  expected  to 
wander  sometime  during  the  watches  of  the  night. 

Like  lightning  the  cat  reared  and  struck  a  vicious 
blow  at  his  tormentor  with  great,  bared  talons  that 
might  well  have  torn  away  the  ape-man's  face  had 
the  blow  landed;  but  it  did  not  land  —  Tarzan  was 
even  quicker  than  Sheeta.  As  the  panther  came  to 
all  fours  again  upon  the  little  platform,  Tarzan 
unslung  his  heavy  spear  and  prodded  at  the  snarling 
face,  and  as  Sheeta  warded  off  the  blows,  the  two 
continued  their  horrid  duet  of  blood-curdling  roars 
and  growls. 

Goaded  to  frenzy  the  cat  presently  determined 
to  come  up  after  this  disturber  of  his  peace;  but 
when  he  essayed  to  leap  to  the  branch  that  held 
Tarzan  he  found  the  sharp  spear  point  always  in 
his  face,  and  each  time  as  he  dropped  back  he  was 
prodded  viciously  in  some  tender  part ;  but  at  length, 
rage  having  conquered  his  better  judgment,  he  leaped 
up  the  rough  bole  to  the  very  branch  upon  which 
Tarzan  stood.  Now  the  two  faced  each  other  upon 
even  footing  and  Sheeta  saw  a  quick  revenge  and 
a  supper  all  in  one.  The  hairless  ape-thing  with 
the  tiny  fangs  and  the  puny  talons  would  be  helpless 
before  him. 


18  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

The  heavy  limb  bent  beneath  the  weight  of  the 
two  beasts  as  Sheeta  crept  cautiously  out  upon  it 
and  Tarzan  backed  slowly  away,  growling.  The 
wind  had  risen  to  the  proportions  of  a  gale  so  that 
even  the  greatest  giants  of  the  forest  swayed,  groan 
ing,  to  its  force  and  the  branch  upon  which  the 
two  faced  each  other  rose  and  fell  like  the  deck  of 
a  storm-tossed  ship.  Goro  was  now  entirely  ob 
scured,  but  vivid  flashes  of  lightning  lit  up  the  jungle 
at  brief  intervals  revealing  the  grim  tableau  of 
primitive  passion  upon  the  swaying  limb. 

Tarzan  backed  away  drawing  Sheeta  farther  from 
the  stem  of  the  tree  and  out  upon  the  tapering 
branch  where  his  footing  became  ever  more  pre 
carious.  The  cat,  infuriated  by  the  pain  of  spear 
wounds,  was  overstepping  the  bounds  of  caution. 
Already  he  had  reached  a  point  where  he  could  do 
little  more  than  maintain  a  secure  footing  and  it 
was  this  moment  that  Tarzan  chose  to  charge.  With 
a  roar  that  mingled  with  the  booming  thunder  from 
above  he  leaped  toward  the  panther,  who  could  only 
claw  futilely  with  one  huge  paw  while  he  clung  to 
the  branch  with  the  others ;  but  the  ape-man  did  not 
come  within  that  parabola  of  destruction.  Instead 
he  leaped  above  menacing  claws  and  snapping  fangs, 
turning  in  mid-air  and  alighting  upon  Sheeta's  back, 
and  at  the  instant  of  impact  his  knife  struck  deep 
into  the  tawny  side.  Then  Sheeta,  impelled  by  pain 
and  hate  and  rage  and  the  first  law  of  Nature,  went 
mad.  Screaming  and  clawing  he  attempted  to  turn 
upon  the  ape-thing  clinging  to  his  back.  For  an  in- 


MURDER  AND  PILLAGE  19 

stant  he  toppled  upon  the  now  wildly  gyrating  limb, 
clutched  frantically  to  save  himself  and  then  plunged 
downward  into  the  darkness  with  Tarzan  still  cling 
ing  to  him.  Crashing  through  splintering  branches 
the  two  fell.  Not  for  an  instant  did  the  ape-man 
consider  relinquishing  his  death-hold  upon  his  ad 
versary.  He  had  entered  the  lists  in  mortal  combat 
and  true  to  the  primitive  instincts  of  the  wild  —  the 
unwritten  law  of  the  jungle  —  one  or  both  must  die 
before  the  battle  ended. 

Sheeta,  catlike,  alighted  upon  four  out-sprawled 
feet,  the  weight  of  the  ape-man  crushing  him  to 
earth,  the  long  knife  again  imbedded  in  his  side. 
Once  the  panther  struggled  to  rise ;  but  only  to  sink 
to  earth  again.  Tarzan  felt  the  giant  muscles  relax 
beneath  him.  Sheeta  was  dead.  Rising,  the  ape- 
man  placed  a  foot  upon  the  body  of  his  vanquished 
foe,  raised  his  face  toward  the  thundering  heavens, 
and  as  the  lightning  flashed  and  the  torrential  rain 
broke  upon  him,  screamed  forth  the  wild  victory  cry 
of  the  bull  ape. 

Having  accomplished  his  aim  and  driven  the  enemy 
from  his  lair,  Tarzan  gathered  an  armful  of  large 
fronds  and  climbed  to  his  dripping  couch.  Laying 
a  few  of  the  fronds  upon  the  poles  he  lay  down  and 
covered  himself  against  the  rain  with  the  others, 
and  despite  the  wailing  of  the  wind  and  the  crashing 
of  the  thunder,  immediately  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    LION'S    CAVE 

THE  rain  lasted  for  twenty-four  hours  and  much 
of  the  time  it  fell  in  torrents  so  that  when  it 
ceased,  the  trail  he  had  been  following  was  entirely 
obliterated.  Cold  and  uncomfortable  —  it  was  a 
savage  Tarzan  who  threaded  the  mazes  of  the  soggy 
jungle.  Manu,  the  monkey,  shivering  and  chatter 
ing  in  the  dank  trees,  scolded  and  fled  at  his  ap 
proach.  Even  the  panthers  and  the  lions  let  the 
growling  Tarmangani  pass  unmolested. 

When  the  sun  shone  again  upon  the  second  day 
and  a  wide,  open  plain  let  the  full  heat  of  Kudu 
flood  the  chilled,  brown  body,  Tarzan's  spirits  rose; 
but  it  was  still  a  sullen,  surly  brute  that  moved 
steadily  onward  into  the  south  where  he  hoped  again 
to  pick  up  the  trail  of  the  Germans.  He  was  now 
in  German  East  Africa  and  it  was  his  intention  to 
skirt  the  mountains  west  of  Kilimanjaro,  whose 
Tugged  peaks  he  was  quite  willing  to  give  a  wide 
berth,  and  then  swing  eastward  along  the  south  side 
of  the  range  to  the  railway  that  led  to  Tanga,  for 
his  experience  among  men  suggested  that  it  was 
toward  this  railroad  that  German  troops  would  be 

likely  to  converge. 

20 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  21 

Two  days  later,  from  the  southern  slopes  of  Kili 
manjaro,  he  heard  the  boom  of  cannon  far  away 
to  the  east.  The  afternoon  had  been  dull  and  cloudy 
and  now  as  he  was  passing  through  a  narrow  gorge 
a  few  great  drops  of  rain  began  to  splatter  upon 
his  naked  shoulders.  Tarzan  shook  his  head  and 
growled  his  disapproval,  then  he  cast  his  eyes  about 
for  shelter  for  he  had  had  quite  enough  of  the  cold 
and  drenching.  He  wanted  to  hasten  on  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  booming  noise  for  he  knew  that  there 
would  be  Germans  fighting  against  the  English. 
For  an  instant  his  bosom  swelled  with  pride  at  the 
thought  that  he  was  English  and  then  he  shook  his 
head  again  viciously.  "  No ! "  he  muttered,  "  Tarzan 
of  the  Apes  is  not  English,  for  the  English  are  men 
and  Tarzan  is  Tarmangani ; "  but  he  could  not  hide 
even  from  his  sorrow  or  from  his  sullen  hatred  of 
mankind  in  general  that  his  heart  warmed  at  the 
thought  it  was  Englishmen  who  fought  the  Germans. 
His  regret  was  that  the  English  were  human  and 
not  great  white  apes  as  he  again  considered  himself. 

"  Tomorrow,"  he  thought,  "  I  will  travel  that  way 
and  find  the  Germans,"  and  then  he  set  himself  to 
the  immediate  task  of  discovering  some  shelter  from 
the  storm.  Presently  he  espied  the  low  and  narrow 
entrance  to  what  appeared  to  be  a  cave  at  the  base 
of  the  cliffs  which  formed  the  northern  side  of  the 
gorge.  With  drawn  knife  he  approached  the  spot 
warily  for  he  knew  that  if  it  were  a  cave  it  was 
doubtless  the  lair  of  some  other  beast.  Before  the 
entrance  lay  many  large  fragments  of  rock  of  dif- 


22  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ferent  sizes,  similar  to  others  scattered  along  the 
entire  base  of  the  cliff,  and  it  was  in  Tarzan's  mind 
that  if  he  found  the  cave  unoccupied,  he  would  barri 
cade  the  door  and  insure  himself  a  quiet  and  peaceful 
night's  repose  within  the  sheltered  interior.  Let  the 
storm  rage  without,  Tarzan  would  remain  within 
until  it  ceased,  comfortable  and  dry.  A  tiny  rivulet 
of  cold  water  trickled  outward  from  the  opening. 

Close  to  the  cave  Tarzan  kneeled  and  sniffed  the 
ground.  A  low  growl  escaped  him  and  his  upper 
lip  curved  to  expose  his  fighting  fangs.  "Numa!" 
he  muttered ;  but  he  did  not  stop.  Numa  might  not 
be  at  home  —  he  would  investigate.  The  entrance 
was  so  low  that  the  ape-man  was  compelled  to  drop 
to  all  fours  before  he  could  poke  his  head  within 
the  aperture;  but  first  he  looked,  listened,  and 
sniffed  in  each  direction  at  his  rear — he  would  not 
be  taken  by  surprise  from  that  quarter. 

His  first  glance  within  the  cave  revealed  a  narrow 
tunnel  with  daylight  at  its  farther  end.  The  interior 
of  the  tunnel  was  not  so  dark  but  that  the  ape-man 
could  readily  see  that  it  was  untenanted  at  present. 
Advancing  cautiously  he  crawled  toward  the  oppo 
site  end  imbued  with  a  full  realization  of  what  it 
would  mean  if  Numa  should  suddenly  enter  the  tun 
nel  in  front  of  him ;  but  Numa  did  not  appear  and 
the  ape-man  emerged  at  length  into  the  open  and 
stood  erect,  finding  himself  in  a  rocky  cleft  whose 
precipitous  walls  rose  almost  sheer  on  every  hand, 
the  tunnel  from  the  gorge  passing  through  the  cliff 
and  forming  a  passageway  from  the  outer  world 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  23 

into  a  large  pocket  or  gulch  entirely  inclosed  by 
steep  walls  of  rock.  Except  for  the  small  passage 
way  from  the  gorge,  there  was  no  other  entrance 
to  the  gulch  which  was  some  hundred  feet  in  length 
and  about  fifty  in  width  and  appeared  to  have  been 
worn  from  the  rocky  cliff  by  the  falling  of  water 
during  long  ages.  A  tiny  stream  from  Kilimanjaro's 
eternal  snow  cap  still  trickled  over  the  edge  of  the 
rocky  wall  at  the  upper  end  of  the  gulch,  forming 
a  little  pool  at  the  bottom  of  the  cliff  from  which 
a  small  rivulet  wound  downward  to  the  tunnel 
through  which  it  passed  to  the  gorge  beyond.  A 
single  great  tree  flourished  near  the  center  of  the 
gulch,  while  tufts  of  wiry  grass  were  scattered  here 
and  there  among  the  rocks  of  the  gravelly  floor. 

The  bones  of  many  large  animals  lay  about  and 
among  them  were  several  human  skulls.  Tarzan 
raised  his  eyebrows.  "A  man-eater,"  he  murmured, 
"and  from  appearances  he  has  held  sway  here  for 
a  long  time.  Tonight  Tarzan  will  take  the  lair  of 
the  man-eater  and  Numa  may  roar  and  grumble 
upon  the  outside." 

The  ape-man  had  advanced  well  into  the  gulch  as 
he  investigated  his  surroundings  and  now  as  he  stood 
near  the  tree,  satisfied  that  the  tunnel  would  prove 
a  dry  and  quiet  retreat  for  the  night,  he  turned  to 
retrace  his  way  to  the  outer  end  of  the  entrance 
that  he  might  block  it  with  bowlders  against  Numa's 
return ;  but  even  with  the  thought  there  came  some 
thing  to  his  sensitive  ears  that  froze  him  into 
statuesque  immobility  with  eyes  glued  upon  the  tun- 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


nel's  mouth.  A  moment  later  the  head  of  a  huge 
lion  framed  in  a  great  black  mane  appeared  in  the 
opening.  The  yellow-green  eyes  glared,  round  and 
unblinking,  straight  at  the  trespassing  Tarmangani, 
a  low  growl  rumbled  from  the  deep  chest  and  lips 
curled  back  to  expose  the  mighty  fangs. 

"  Brother  of  Dango  !  "  shouted  Tarzan,  angered 
that  Numa's  return  should  have  been  so  timed  as  to 
frustrate  his  plans  for  a  comfortable  night's  repose. 
"  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,  Lord  of  the  Jungle. 
Tonight  I  lair  here  —  go  !  " 

But  Numa  did  not  go.  Instead  he  rumbled  forth 
a  menacing  roar  and  took  a  few  steps  in  Tarzan's 
direction.  The  ape-man  picked  up  a  rock  and  hurled 
it  at  the  snarling  face.  One  can  never  be  sure  of 
a  lion.  This  one  might  turn  tail  and  run  at  the 
first  intimation  of  attack  —  Tarzan  had  bluffed 
many  in  his  time  —  but  not  now.  The  missile  struck 
Numa  full  upon  the  snout  —  a  tender  part  of  a  cat's 
anatomy  —  and  instead  of  causing  him  to  flee  it 
transformed  him  into  an  infuriated  engine  of  wrath 
and  destruction. 

Up  went  his  tail,  stiff  and  erect,  and  with  a  series 
of  frightful  roars  he  bore  down  upon  the  Tarman 
gani  at  the  speed  of  an  express  train.  Not  an 
instant  too  soon  did  Tarzan  reach  the  tree  and 
swing  himself  into  its  branches  and  there  he  squatted, 
hurling  insults  at  the  king  of  beasts  while  Numa 
paced  a  circle  beneath  him,  growling  and  roaring 
in  rage. 

It  was  raining  now  in  earnest  adding  to  the  ape- 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  25 

man's  discomfort  and  disappointment.  He  was  very 
angry ;  but  as  only  direct  necessity  had  ever  led  him 
to  close  in  mortal  combat  with  a  lion,  knowing  as 
he  did  that  he  had  only  luck  and  agility  to  pit 
against  the  frightful  odds  of  muscle,  weight,  fangs, 
and  talons,  he  did  not  now  even  consider  descending 
and  engaging  in  so  unequal  and  useless  a  duel  for 
the  mere  reward  of  a  little  added  creature  comfort. 
'And  so  he  sat  perched  in  the  tree  while  the  rain  fell 
steadily  and  the  lion  padded  round  and  round  be 
neath  casting  a  baleful  eye  upward  after  every  few 
steps. 

Tarzan  scanned  the  precipitous  walls  for  an 
avenue  of  escape.  They  would  have  baffled  an  ordi 
nary  man ;  but  the  ape-man,  accustomed  to  climbing, 
saw  several  places  where  he  might  gain  a  foothold, 
precarious  possibly;  but  enough  to  give  him  rea 
sonable  assurance  of  escape  if  Numa  would  but  be 
take  himself  to  the  far  end  of  the  gulch  for  a 
moment.  Numa,  however,  notwithstanding  the  rain, 
gave  no  evidence  of  quitting  his  post  so  that  at 
last  Tarzan  really  began  to  consider  seriously  if  it1 
might  not  be  as  well  to  take  the  chance  of  a  battle 
with  him  rather  than  remain  longer  cold  and  wet 
and  humiliated  in  the  tree. 

But  even  as  he  turned  the  matter  over  in  his  mind 
Numa  turned  suddenly  and  walked  majestically 
toward  the  tunnel  without  even  a  backward  glance. 
The  instant  that  he  disappeared,  Tarzan  dropped 
lightly  to  the  ground  upon  the  far  side  of  the  tree 
and  was  away  at  top  speed  for  the  cliff.  The  lion 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


had  no  sooner  entered  the  tunnel  than  he  backed 
immediately  out  again  and,  pivoting  like  a  flash,  was 
off  across  the  gulch  in  full  charge  after  the  flying 
ape-man;  but  Tarzan's  lead  was  too  great  —  if  he 
could  find  finger  or  foothold  upon  the  sheer  wall 
he  would  be  safe;  but  should  he  slip  from  the  wet 
rocks  his  doom  was  already  sealed  as  he  would  fall 
directly  into  Numa's  clutches  where  even  the  great 
Tarmangani  would  be  helpless. 

With  the  agility  of  a  cat  Tarzan  ran  up  the  cliff 
for  thirty  feet  before  he  paused,  and  there  finding 
a  secure  foothold,  he  stopped  and  looked  down  upon 
Nu-ma  who  was  leaping  upward  in  a  wild  and  futile 
attempt  to  scale  the  rocky  wall  to  his  prey.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  from  the  ground  the  lion  would 
scramble  only  to  fall  backward  again  defeated. 
Tarzan  eyed  him  for  a  moment  and  then  commenced 
a  slow  and  cautious  ascent  toward  the  summit. 
Several  times  he  had  difficulty  in  finding  holds  but 
at  last  he  drew  himself  over  the  edge,  rose,  picked 
up  a  bit  of  loose  rock,  hurled  it  at  Numa  and  strode 
away. 

Finding  an  easy  descent  to  the  gorge  he  was  about 
to  pursue  his  journey  in  the  direction  of  the  still- 
booming  guns  when  a  sudden  thought  caused  him  to 
halt  and  a  half-smile  to  play  about  his  lips.  Turn 
ing  he  trotted  quickly  back  to  the  outer  opening  of 
Numa's  tunnel.  Close  beside  it  he  listened  for  a 
moment  and  then  rapidly  began  to  gather  large 
rocks  and  pile  them  within  the  entrance.  He  had 
almost  closed  the  aperture  when  the  lion  appeared 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  27 

upon  the  inside  —  a  very  ferocious  and  angry  lion 
that  pawed  and  clawed  at  the  rocks  and  uttered 
mighty  roars  that  caused  the  earth  to  tremble;  but 
roars  did  not  frighten  Tarzan  of  the  Apes.  At 
Kala's  shaggy  breast  he  had  closed  his  infant  eyes 
in  sleep  upon  countless  nights  in  years  gone  by  to 
the  savage  chorus  of  similar  roars.  Scarcely  a  day 
or  night  of  his  jungle  life  —  and  practically  all  his 
life  had  been  spent  in  the  jungle  —  that  he  had  not 
heard  the  roaring  of  hungry  lions,  or  angry  lions,, 
or  love-sick  lions.  Such  sounds  affected  Tarzan  as 
the  tooting  of  an  automobile  horn  may  effect  you  — 
if  you  are  in  front  of  the  automobile  it  warns  you 
out  of  the  way,  if  you  are  not  in  front  of  it  you 
scarcely  notice  it.  Figuratively  Tarzan  was  not  in 
front  of  the  automobile  —  Numa  could  not  reach  him 
and  Tarzan  knew  it,  so  he  continued  deliberately 
to  choke  the  entrance  until  there  was  no  possibility 
of  Numa's  getting  out  again.  When  he  was  quite 
through  he  made  a  grimace  at  the  hidden  lion  be 
yond  the  barrier  and  resumed  his  way  toward  the 
east.  "A  man-eater  who  will  eat  no  more  men," 
he  soliloquized. 

That  night  Tarzan  lay  up  tinder  an  overhanging 
shelf  of  rock.  The  next  morning  he  resumed  his 
journey,  stopping  only  long  enough  to  make  a  kill 
and  satisfy  his  hunger.  The  other  beasts  of  the 
wild  eat  and  lie  up;  but  Tarzan  never  let  his  belly 
interfere  with  his  plans.  In  this  lay  one  of  the 
greatest  differences  between  the  ape-man  and  his 
fellows  of  the  jungles  and  the  forests.  The  firing 


28  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ahead  rose  and  fell  during  the  day.  He  had  noticed 
that  it  was  highest  at  dawn  and  immediately  after 
dusk  and  that  during  the  night  it  almost  ceased. 
In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  he 
came  upon  troops  moving  up  toward  the  front. 
They  appeared  to  be  raiding  parties  for  they  drove 
goats  and  cows  along  with  them  and  there  were  na 
tive  porters  laden  with  grain  and  other  foodstuffs. 
He  saw  that  these  natives  were  all  secured  by  neck 
chains  and  he  also  saw  that  the  troops  were  com 
posed  of  native  soldiers  in  German  uniforms.  The 
officers  were  white  men.  No  one  saw  Tarzan,  yet 
he  was  here  and  there  about  and  among  them  for 
two  hours.  He  inspected  the  insignia  upon  their 
uniforms  and  saw  that  they  were  not  the  same  as 
that  which  he  had  taken  from  one  of  the  dead  sol 
diers  at  the  bungalow  and  then  he  passed  on  ahead 
of  them,  unseen  in  the  dense  bush.  He  had  come 
upon  Germans  and  had  not  killed  them;  but  it  was 
because  the  killing  of  Germans  at  large  was  not  yet 
the  prime  motive  of  his  existence  —  now  it  was  to 
discover  the  individual  who  slew  his  mate.  After 
he  had  accounted  for  him  he  would  take  up  the  little 
matter  of  slaying  all  Germans  who  crossed  his  path, 
and  he  meant  that  many  should  cross  it,  for  he  would 
hunt  them  precisely  as  professional  hunters  hunt  the 
man-eaters. 

As  he  neared  the  front  lines  the  troops  became 
more  numerous.  There  were  motor  trucks  and  ox 
teams  and  all  the  impedimenta  of  a  small  army  and 
always  there  were  wounded  men  walking  or  being 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  29 

carried  toward  the  rear.  He  had  crossed  the  rail 
road  some  distance  back  and  judged  that  the 
wounded  were  being  taken  to  it  for  transportation 
to  a  base  hospital  and  possibly  as  far  away  as 
Tanga  on  the  coast. 

It  was  dusk  when  he  reached  a  large  camp  hidden 
in  the  foothills  of  the  Pare  Mountains.  As  he  was 
approaching  from  the  rear  he  found  it  but  lightly 
guarded  and  what  sentinels  there  were,  were  not  upor 
the  alert,  and  so  it  was  an  easy  thing  for  him  to 
enter  after  darkness  had  fallen  and  prowl  about 
listening  at  the  backs  of  tents,  searching  for  some 
clew  to  the  slayer  of  his  mate. 

As  he  paused  at  the  side  of  a  tent  before  which 
sat  a  number  of  native  soldiers  he  caught  a  few 
words  spoken  in  native  dialect  that  riveted  his  at 
tention  instantly :  "  The  Waziri  fought  like  devils ; 
but  we  are  greater  fighters  and  we  killed  them  all. 
When  we  were  through  the  captain  came  and  killed 
the  woman.  He  stayed  outside  and  yelled  in  a  very 
loud  voice  until  all  the  men  were  killed.  Unter- 
lieutenant  von  Goss  is  braver  —  he  came  in  and  stood 
beside  the  door  shouting  at  us,  also  in  a  very  loud 
voice,  and  bade  us  nail  one  of  the  Waziri,  who  was 
wounded,  to  the  wall  and  then  he  laughed  loudly 
because  the  man  suffered.  We  all  laughed.  It  was 
very  funny." 

Like  a  beast  of  prey,  grim  and  terrible,  Tarzan 
crouched  in  the  shadows  beside  the  tent.  What 
thoughts  passed  through  that  savage  mind?  Who 
may  say?  No  outward  sign  of  passion  was  revealed 


30  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

by  the  expression  of  the  handsome  face;  the  cold, 
gray  eyes  denoted  only  intense  watchfulness.  Pres 
ently  the  soldier  Tarzan  had  heard  first  rose  and 
with  a  parting  word  turned  away.  He  passed  within 
ten  feet  of  the  ape-man  and  continued  on  toward 
the  rear  of  the  camp.  Tarzan  followed  and  in  the 
shadows  of  a  clump  of  bushes  overtook  his  quarry. 
There  was  no  sound  as  the  man-beast  sprang  upon 
the  back  of  his  prey  and  bore  it  to  the  ground  for 
steel  fingers  closed  simultaneously  upon  the  soldier's 
throat,  effectually  stifling  any  outcry.  By  the  neck 
Tarzan  dragged  his  victim  well  into  the  concealment 
of  the  bushes. 

"Make  no  sound,"  he  cautioned  in  the  man's  own 
tribal  dialect  as  he  released  his  hold  upon  the  other's 
throat. 

The  fellow  gasped  for  breath,  rolling  frightened 
eyes  upward  to  see  what  manner  of  creature  it  might 
be  in  whose  power  he  was.  In  the  darkness  he  saw 
only  a  naked  brown  body  bending  above  him;  but 
he  still  remembered  the  terrific  strength  of  the 
mighty  muscles  that  had  closed  upon  his  wind  and 
dragged  him  into  the  bushes  as  though  he  had  been 
but  a  little  child.  If  any  thought  of  resistance 
crossed  his  mind  he  must  have  discarded  it  at  once 
as  he  made  no  move  to  escape. 

"What  is  the  name  of  the  officer  who  killed  the 
woman  at  the  bungalow  where  you  fought  with  the 
Waziri?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"Hauptmann  Schneider,"  replied  the  black  when 
he  could  again  command  his  voice. 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  31 

"Where  is  he?"  demanded  the  ape-man. 

"  He  is  here.  It  may  be  that  he  is  at  headquarters. 
Many  of  the  officers  go  there  in  the  evening  to 
receive  orders.** 

"Lead  me  there,"  commanded  Tarzan,  "and  if  I 
am  discovered  I  will  kill  you  immediately.  Get  up  ! " 

The  black  rose  and  led  the  way  by  a  roundabout 
route  back  through  the  camp.  Several  times  they 
were  forced  to  hide  while  soldiers  passed;  but  at 
last  they  reached  a  great  pile  of  baled  hay  from 
about  the  corner  of  which  the  black  pointed  out  a 
two-story  building  in  the  distance. 

"Headquarters,"  he  said.  "You  can  go  no  far 
ther  unseen.  There  are  many  soldiers  about." 

Tarzan  realized  that  he  could  not  proceed  farther 
in  company  with  the  black.  He  turned  and  looked 
at  the  fellow  for  a  moment  as  though  pondering 
what  disposition  to  make  of  him. 

"You  helped  to  crucify  Wasimbu,  the  Waziri," 
he  accused  in  a  low  yet  none  the  less  terrible  tone. 

The  black  trembled,  his  knees  giving  beneath  him. 
"He  ordered  us  to  do  it,"  he  plead. 

"Who  ordered  it  done?"  demanded  Tarzan. 

"  Unterlieutenant  von  Goss,"  replied  the  soldier. 
"He,  too,  is  here." 

"I  shall  find  him,"  returned  Tarzan,  grimty. 
"You  helped  to  crucify  Wasimbu,  the  Waziri,  and 
while  he  suffered,  you  laughed." 

The  fellow  reeled.  It  was  as  though  in  the  accu 
sation  he  read  also  his  death  sentence.  With  no 
other  word  Tarzan  seized  the  man  again  by  the 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


neck.  As  before  there  was  no  outcry.  The  giant 
muscles  tensed.  The  arms  swung  quickly  upward 
and  with  them  the  body  of  the  black  soldier  who 
had  helped  to  crucify  Wasimbu,  the  Waziri,  de- 
Ascribed  a  circle  in  the  air  —  once,  twice,  three  times 
and  then  it  was  flung  aside  and  the  ape-man  turned 
in  the  direction  of  General  Kraut's  headquarters. 

A  single  sentinel  in  rear  of  the  building  barred 
the  way.  Tarzan  crawled,  belly  to  the  ground, 
toward  him,  taking  advantage  of  cover  as  only  the 
jungle-bred  beast  of  prey  can  do.  When  the  sen 
tinel's  eyes  were  toward  him  Tarzan  hugged  the 
ground,  motionless  as  stone,  when  they  were  turned 
away  he  moved  swiftly  forward.  Presently  he  was 
within  charging  distance.  He  waited  until  the  man 
had  turned  his  back  once  more  and  then  he  rose  and 
sped  noiselessly  down  upon  him.  Again  there  was 
no  sound  as  he  carried  the  dead  body  with  him 
toward  the  building. 

The  lower  floor  was  lighted,  the  upper  dark. 
Through  the  windows  Tarzan  saw  a  large  front 
room  and  a  smaller  room  in  rear  of  it.  In  the 
former  were  many  officers.  Some  moved  about  talk 
ing  to  one  another,  others  sat  at  field  tables  writing. 
The  windows  were  open  and  Tarzan  could  hear  much 
of  the  conversation  ;  but  nothing  that  interested  him. 
It  was  mostly  about  the  German  successes  in  Africa 
and  conjectures  as  to  when  the  German  army  in 
Europe  would  reach  Paris.  Some  said  the  Kaiser 
was  doubtless  already  there  and  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  damning  of  Belgium. 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  33 

In  the  smaller  back  room  a  large,  red-faced  man 
sat  behind  a  table.  Some  other  officers  were  also 
sitting  a  little  in  rear  of  him,  while  two  stood  at 
attention  before  the  general  who  was  questioning 
them.  As  he  talked  the  general  toyed  with  an  oil 
lamp  that  stood  upon  the  table  before  him.  Pres 
ently  there  came  a  knock  upon  the  door  and  an  aide 
entered  the  room.  He  saluted  and  reported: 
"  Fraulein  Kircher  has  arrived,  sir." 

"Bid  her  enter,"  commanded  the  general,  and 
then  nodded  to  the  two  officers  before  him  in  sign 
of  dismissal. 

The  Fraulein,  entering,  passed  them  at  the  door. 
The  officers  in  the  little  room  rose  and  saluted,  the 
Fraulein  acknowledging  the  courtesy  with  a  bow  and 
a  slight  smile.  She  was  a  very  pretty  girl.  Even 
the  rough,  soiled  riding  habit  and  the  caked  dust 
upon  her  face  could  not  conceal  the  fact,  and  she 
was  young.  She  could  not  have  been  over  nineteen. 

She  advanced  to  the  table  behind  which  the  general 
stood  and  taking  a  folded  paper  from  an  inside 
pocket  of  her  coat  handed  it  to  him. 

"Be  seated  Fraulein,"  he  said  and  another  officer 
brought  her  a  chair.  No  one  spoke  while  the  general 
read  the  contents  of  the  paper. 

Tarzan  appraised  the  various  people  in  the  room. 
He  wondered  if  one  might  not  be  Hauptmann 
Schneider,  for  two  of  them  were  captains.  The 
girl  he  judged  to  be  of  the  intelligence  department  — 
a  spy.  Her  beauty  held  no  appeal  for  him  —  with 
out  a  glimmer  of  compunction  he  could  have  wrung 


34  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

that  fair,  young  neck.  She  was  German  and  that 
was  enough;  but  he  had  other  and  more  important 
work  before  him.  He  wanted  Hauptmann  Schneider. 

Finally  the  general  looked  up  from  the  paper. 

"Good,"  he  said  to  the  girl,  and  then  to  one  of 
his  aides,  "Send  for  Major  Schneider.'"* 

Major  Schneider!  Tarzan  felt  the  short  hairs 
at  the  back  of  his  neck  rise.  Already  they  had  pro 
moted  the  beast  who  had  murdered  his  mate  — 
doubtless  they  had  promoted  him  for  that  very 
crime. 

The  aide  left  the  room  and  the  others  fell  into 
a  general  conversation  from  which  it  became  ap 
parent  to  Tarzan  that  the  German  East  African 
forces  greatly  outnumbered  the  British  and  that  the 
latter  were  suffering  heavily.  The  ape-man  stood 
so  concealed  in  a  clump  of  bushes  that  he  could 
watch  the  interior  of  the  room  without  being  seen 
from  within,  while  he  was  at  the  same  time  hidden 
from  the  view  of  anyone  who  might  chance  to  pass 
along  the  post  of  the  sentinel  he  had  slain.  Mo 
mentarily  he  was  expecting  a  patrol  or  a  relief  to 
appear  and  discover  that  the  sentinel  was  missing 
when  he  knew  an  immediate  and  thorough  search 
would  be  made. 

Impatiently  he  awaited  the  coming  of  the  man  he 
sought  and  at  last  he  was  rewarded  by  the  reap 
pearance  of  the  aide  who  had  been  dispatched  to 
fetch  him  accompanied  by  an  officer  of  medium  size 
with  fierce,  upstanding  mustaches.  The  newcomer 
strode  to  the  table,  halted  and  saluted,  reporting. 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  35 

The  general  acknowledged  the  salute  and  turned 
toward  the  girl. 

"  Fraulein  Kircher,"  he  said,  "  allow  me  to  present 
Major  Schneider " 

Tarzan  waited  to  hear  no  more.  Placing  a  palm 
upon  the  sill  of  the  window  he  vaulted  into  the  room 
into  the  midst  of  an  astounded  company  of  the 
Kaiser's  officers.  With  a  stride  he  was  at  the  table 
and  with  a  sweep  of  his  hand  sent  the  lamp  crashing 
into  the  fat  belly  of  the  general  who,  in  his  mad 
effort  to  escape  cremation,  fell  over  backward,  chair 
and  all,  upon  the  floor.  Two  of  the  aides  sprang 
for  the  ape-man  who  picked  up  the  first  and  flung 
him  in  the  face  of  the  other.  The  girl  had  leaped 
from  her  chair  and  stood  flattened  against  the  wall. 
The  other  officers  were  calling  aloud  for  the  guard 
and  for  help.  Tarzan's  purpose  centered  upon  but 
a  single  individual  and  him  he  never  lost  sight  of. 
Freed  from  attack  for  an  instant  he  seized  Major 
Schneider,  threw  him  over  his  shoulder  and  was  out 
of  the  window  so  quickly  that  the  astonished  as 
semblage  could  scarce  realize  what  had  occurred. 

A  single  glance  showed  him  that  the  sentinel's  post 
was  still  vacant  and  a  moment  later  he  and  his  bur 
den  were  in  the  shadows  of  the  hay  dump.  Major 
Schneider  had  made  no  outcry  for  the  very  excellent 
reason  that  his  wind  was  shut  off.  Now  Tarzan 
relaxed  his  grasp  enough  to  permit  the  man  to 
breathe. 

"  If  you  make  a  sound  you  will  be  choked  again," 
he  said. 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


Cautiously  and  after  infinite  patience  Tarzan 
passed  the  final  outpost.  Forcing  his  captive  to 
walk  before  him  he  pushed  on  toward  the  west  until, 
late  into  the  night,  he  recrossed  the  railway  where 
he  felt  reasonably  safe  from  discovery.  The  German 
had  cursed  and  grumbled  and  threatened  and  asked 
questions ;  but  his  only  reply  was  another  prod  from 
Tarzan's  sharp  war  spear.  The  ape-man  herded 
him  along  as  he  would  have  driven  a  hog  with  the 
difference  that  he  would  have  had  more  respect  and 
therefore  more  consideration  for  a  hog. 

Until  now  Tarzan  had  given  little  thought  to  the 
details  of  revenge.  Now  he  pondered  what  form  the 
punishment  should  take.  Of  only  one  thing  was  he 
certain  —  it  must  end  in  death.  Like  all  brave  men 
and  courageous  beasts  Tarzan  had  little  natural  in 
clination  to  torture  —  none,  in  fact;  but  this  case 
was  unique  in  his  experience.  An  inherent  sense 
of  justice  called  for  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  his  recent 
oath  demanded  even  more.  Yes,  the  creature  must 
suffer  even  as  he  had  caused  Jane  Clayton  to  suffer. 
Tarzan  could  not  hope  to  make  the  man  suffer  as 
he  had  suffered,  since  physical  pain  may  never  ap 
proach  the  exquisiteness  of  mental  torture. 

All  through  the  long  night  the  ape-man  goaded 
on  the  exhausted  and  now  terrified  Hun.  The  awful 
silence  of  his  captor  wrought  upon  the  German's 
nerves.  If  he  would  only  speak!  Again  and  again 
Schneider  tried  to  force  or  coax  a  word  from  him; 
but  always  the  result  was  the  same  —  continued 
silence  and  a  vicious  and  painful  prod  from  the 


THE  LION'S  CAVE  37 

spear  point.  Schneider  was  bleeding  and  sore.  He 
was  so  exhausted  that  he  staggered  at  every  step, 
and  often  he  fell  only  to  be  prodded  to  his  feet 
again  by  that  terrifying  and  remorseless  spear. 

It  was  not  until  morning  that  Tarzan  reached  a 
decision  and  it  came  to  him  then  like  an  inspiration 
from  above.  A  slow  smile  touched  his  lips  and  he 
immediately  sought  a  place  to  lie  up  and  rest — he 
wished  Hs  prisoner  to  be  fit  now  for  what  lay  in 
store  foi*  him.  Ahead  was  a  stream  which  Tarzan 
had  crossed  the  day  before.  He  knew  the  ford  for 
a  drinking  place  and  a  likely  spot  to  make  an  easy 
kill.  Cautioning  the  German  to  utter  silence  with 
a  gesture  the  two  approached  the  stream  quietly. 
Down  the  game  trail  Tarzan  saw  some  deer  about 
to  leave  the  water.  He  shoved  Schneider  into  the 
bnioh  at  one  side  and  squatting  next  him  waited. 
The  Gerjnan  watched  the  silent  giant  with  puzzled, 
frignte:^  eyes.  In  the  new  dawn  he,  for  the  first 
time,  w&s  able  to  obtain  a  good  look  at  his  captor, 
and  if  he  had  been  puzzled  and  frightened  before 
those  sensations  were  nothing  to  what  he  experienced 
now. 

Who  and  what  could  this  almost  naked,  white 
savage  be?  He  had  heard  him  speak  but  once  — 
when  he  had  cautioned  him  to  silence  —  and  then  in 
excellent  German  and  the  well-modulated  tones  of 
culture.  He  watched  him  now  as  the  fascinated  toad 
watches  the  snake  that  is  about  to  devour  it.  He 
saw  the  graceful  limbs  and  symmetrical  body  mo 
tionless  as  a  marble  statue  as  the  creature  crouched 


38  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

in  the  concealment  of  the  leafy  foliage.  Not  a 
muscle,  not  a  nerve  moved.  He  saw  the  deer  coming 
slowly  along  the  trail,  down  wind  and  unsuspecting. 
He  saw  a  buck  pass  —  an  old  buck  —  and  then  a 
young  and  plump  one  came  opposite  the  giant  in 
ambush,  and  Schneider's  eyes  went  wide  and  a  scream 
of  terror  almost  broke  from  his  lips  as  he  saw  the 
agile  beast  at  his  side  spring  straight  for  the  throat 
of  the  young  buck  and  heard  from  those  human 
lips  the  hunting  roar  of  a  wild  beast.  Down  went 
the  buck  and  Tarzan  and  his  captive  had  meat.  The 
ape-man  ate  his  raw,  but  he  permitted  the  German 
to  build  a  fire  and  cook  his  portion. 

The  two  lay  up  until  late  in  the  afternoon  and 
then  took  up  the  journey  once  again  —  a  journey 
that  was  so  frightful  to  Schneider  because  of  his 
ignorance  of  its  destination  that  he  at  times  groveled 
at  Tarzan's  feet  begging  for  an  explanation  and  for 
mercy;  but  on  and  on  in  silence  the  ape-man  went, 
prodding  the  failing  Hun  whenever  the  latter  fal 
tered. 

It  was  noon  of  the  third  day  before  they  reached 
their  destination.  After  a  steep  climb  and  a  short 
walk  they  halted  at  the  edge  of  a  precipitous  cliff 
and  Schneider  looked  down  into  a  narrow  gulch 
where  a  single  tree  grew  beside  a  tiny  rivulet  and 
sparse  grass  broke  from  a  rock-strewn  soil.  Tarzan 
motioned  him  over  the  edge;  but  the  German  drew 
back  in  terror.  The  ape-man  seized  him  and  pushed 
him  roughly  toward  the  brink.  "Descend,"  he  said. 
It  was  the  second  time  he  had  spoken  in  three  days 


39 


and  perhaps  his  very  silence,  ominous  in  itself,  had 
done  more  to  arouse  terror  in  the  breast  of  the 
Boche  than  even  the  spear  point,  ever  ready  as  it 
always  was. 

Schneider  looked  fearfully  over  the  edge;  but  was 
about  to  essay  the  attempt  when  Tarzan  halted  him. 
"  I  am  Lord  Greystoke,"  he  said.  "  It  was  my  wife 
you  murdered  in  the  Waziri  country.  You  will  un 
derstand  now  why  I  came  for  you.  Descend." 

The  German  fell  upon  his  knees.  "I  did  not 
murder  your  wife,"  he  cried.  "  Have  mercy !  I 
did  not  murder  your  wife.  I  do  not  know  anything 
about " 

"Descend!"  snapped  Tarzan,  raising  the  point 
of  his  spear.  He  knew  that  the  man  lied  and  was 
not  surprised  that  he  did.  A  man  who  would  murder 
for  no  cause  would  lie  for  less.  Schneider  still  hesi 
tated  and  plead.  The  ape-man  jabbed  him  with  the 
spear  and  Schneider  slid  fearfully  over  the  top  and 
began  the  perilous  descent.  Tarzan  accompanied 
and  assisted  him  over  the  worst  places  until  at  last 
they  were  within  a  few  feet  of  the  bottom. 

"Be  quiet  now,"  cautioned  the  ape-man.  He 
pointed  at  the  entrance  to  what  appeared  to  be  a 
cave  at  the  far  end  of  the  gulch.  "There  is  a 
hungry  lion  in  there.  If  you  can  reach  that  tree 
before  he  discovers  you,  you  will  have  several  days 
longer  in  which  to  enjoy  life  and  then  —  when  you 
are  too  weak  to  cling  longer  to  the  branches  of  the 
tree  Numa,  the  man-eater,  will  feed  again  for  the 
last  time."  He  pushed  Schneider  from  his  foothold 


40 


to  the  ground  below.     "  Now  run,"  he  said. 

The  German  trembling  in  terror  started  for  the 
tree.  He  had  almost  reached  it  when  a  horrid  roar 
broke  from  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  almost  simul 
taneously  a  gaunt,  hunger-mad  lion  leaped  into  the 
daylight  of  the  gulch.  Schneider  had  but  a  few 
yards  to  cover;  but  the  lion  flew  over  the  ground 
to  circumvent  him  while  Tarzan  watched  the  race 
with  a  slight  smile  upon  his  lips. 

Schneider  won  by  a  slender  margin,  and  as  Tarzan 
scaled  the  cliff  to  the  summit,  he  heard  behind  him 
mingled  with  the  roaring  of  the  baffled  cat,  the  gib 
bering  of  a  human  voice  that  was  at  the  same  time 
more  bestial  than  the  beast's. 

Upon  the  brink  of  the  cliff  the  ape-man  turned 
and  looked  back  into  the  gulch.  High  in  the  tree 
the  German  clung  frantically  to  a  branch  across 
which  his  body  lay.  Beneath  him  was  Numa  — 
waiting. 

The  ape-man  raised  his  face  to  Kudu,  the  sun, 
and  from  his  mighty  chest  rose  the  savage  victory 
cry  of  the  bull  ape. 


IN    THE    GERMAN    LINES 

TARZAN  was  not  yet  fully  revenged.  There 
were  many  millions  of  Germans  yet  alive — 
enough  to  keep  Tarzan  pleasantly  occupied  the 
balance  of  his  life  and  yet  not  enough,  should  he 
kill  them  all,  to  recompense  him  for  the  great  loss  he 
had  suffered  —  nor  could  the  death  of  all  those  mil 
lion  Germans  bring  back  his  loved  one. 

While  in  the  German  camp  in  the  Pare  Mountains, 
which  lie  just  east  of  the  boundary  line  between  Ger 
man  and  British  East  Africa,  Tarzan  had  overheard 
enough  to  suggest  that  the  British  were  getting  the 
worst  of  the  fighting  in  Africa.  At  first  he  had 
given  the  matter  but  little  thought  since,  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  the  one  strong  tie  that  had  held 
him  to  civilization,  he  had  renounced  all  mankind, 
considering  himself  no  longer  man,  but  ape. 

After  accounting  for  Schneider  as  satisfactorily 
as  lay  within  his  power  he  circled  Kilimanjaro  and 
hunted  in  the  foothills  to  the  north  of  that  mightiest 
of  mountains  as  he  had  discovered  that  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  armies  there  was  no  hunting  at  all, 
Some  pleasure  he  derived  through  conjuring  mental 

pictures  from  time  to  time  of  the  German  he  had  left 

4.1 


42  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

in  the  branches  of  the  lone  tree  at  the  bottom  of  the 
high-walled  gulch  in  which  was  penned  the  starving 
lion.  He  could  imagine  the  man's  mental  anguish  as 
he  became  weakened  from  hunger  and  maddened  by 
thirst,  knowing  that  sooner  or  later  he  must  slip 
exhausted  to  the  ground  where  waited  the  gaunt 
man-eater.  Tarzan  wondered  if  Schneider  would 
have  the  courage  to  descend  to  the  little  rivulet  for 
water  should  Numa  leave  the  gulch  and  enter  the 
cave,  and  then  he  pictured  the  mad  race  for  the  tree 
again  when  the  lion  charged  out  to  seize  his  prey  as 
he  was  certain  to  do,  since  the  clumsy  German  could 
not  descend  to  the  rivulet  without  making  at  least 
some  slight  noise  that  would  attract  Numa's  at 
tention. 

But  even  this  pleasure  palled  and  more  and  more 
the  ape-man  found  himself  thinking  of  the  English 
soldiers  fighting  against  heavy  odds  and  especially 
of  the  fact  that  it  was  Germans  who  were  besting 
them.  The  thought  made  him  lower  his  head  and 
growl  and  it  worried  him  not  a  little  —  a  bit,  per 
haps,  because  he  was  finding  it  difficult  to  forget 
that  he  was  an  Englishman  when  he  wanted  only 
to  be  an  ape.  And  at  last  the  time  came  when  he 
could  not  longer  endure  the  thought  of  Germans 
killing  Englishmen  while  he  hunted  in  safety  a  bare 
march  away. 

His  decision  made,  he  set  out  in  the  direction  of 
the  German  camp,  no  well-defined  plan  formulated; 
but  with  the  general  idea  that  once  near  the  field  of 
operations  he  might  find  an  opportunity  to  harass 


IN  THE  GERMAN  LINES  43 

the  German  command  as  he  so  well  knew  how  to  do. 
His  way  took  him  along  the  gorge  close  to  the  gulch 
in  which  he  had  left  Schneider,  and  yielding  to  a 
natural  curiosity,  he  scaled  the  cliffs  and  made  his 
way  to  the  edge  of  the  gulch.  The  tree  was  empty, 
nor  was  there  sign  of  Numa,  the  lion.  Picking  up 
a  rock  he  hurled  it  into  the  gulch  where  it  rolled 
to  the  very  entrance  to  the  cave.  Instantly  the  lion 
appeared  in  the  aperture;  but  such  a  different-look 
ing  lion  from  the  great  sleek  brute  that  Tarzan  had 
trapped  there  two  weeks  before.  Now  he  was  gaunt 
and  emaciated,  and  when  he  walked  he  staggered. 

"  Where  is  the  German  ?  "  shouted  Tarzan.  "  Was 
he  good  eating,  or  only  a  bag  of  bones  when  he 
slipped  and  fell  from  the  tree?" 

Numa  growled.  "You  look  hungry  Numa,"  con 
tinued  the  ape-man.  "You  must  have  been  very 
hungry  to  eat  all  the  grass  from  your  lair  and  even 
the  bark  from  the  tree  as  far  up  as  you  can  reach. 
Would  you  like  another  German?"  and  smiling  he 
turned  away. 

A  few  minutes  later  he  came  suddenly  upon  Bara, 
the  deer,  asleep  beneath  a  tree,  and  as  Tarzan  was 
hungry  he  made  a  quick  kill,  and  squatting  beside 
his  prey  proceeded  to  eat  his  fill.  As  he  was  gnaw 
ing  the  last  morsel  from  a  bone  his  quick  ears  caught 
the  padding  of  stealthy  feet  behind  him,  and  turning 
he  confronted  Dango,  the  hyena,  sneaking  upon  him. 
»With  a  growl  the  ape-man  picked  up  a  fallen  branch 
and  hurled  it  at  the  skulking  brute.  "Go  away, 
eater  of  carrion ! "  he  cried ;  but  Dango  was  hungry 


44  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  being  large  and  powerful  he  only  snarled  and 
circled  slowly  about  as  though  watching  for  an. 
opportunity  to  charge.  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  knew 
Dango  even  better  than  Dango  knew  himself.  He 
knew  that  the  brute,  made  savage  by  hunger,  was 
mustering  its  courage  for  an  attack,  that  it  was 
probably  accustomed  to  man  and  therefore  more  or 
less  fearless  of  him  and  so  he  unslung  his  heavy  spear 
and  laid  it  ready  at  his  side  while  he  continued  his 
meal,  all  the  time  keeping  a  watchful  eye  upon  the 
hyena. 

He  felt  no  fear,  for  long  familiarity  with  the 
dangers  of  his  wild  world  had  so  accustomed  him  to 
them  that  he  took  whatever  came  as  a  part  of  each 
day's  existence  as  you  accept  the  homely  though  no 
less  real  dangers  of  the  farm,  the  range,  or  the 
crowded  metropolis.  Being  jungle  bred  he  was 
ready  to  protect  his  kill  from  all  comers  within 
ordinary  limitations  of  caution.  Under  favorable 
conditions  Tarzan  would  face  even  Numa  himself 
and,  if  forced  to  seek  safety  by  flight,  he  could  do 
so  without  any  feeling  of  shame.  There  was  no 
braver  creature  roamed  those  savage  wilds  and  at  the 
same  time  there  was  none  more  wise  —  the  two 
factors  that  had  permitted  him  to  survive. 

Dango  might  have  charged  sooner  but  for  the 
savage  growls  of  the  ape-man  —  growls  which,  com 
ing  from  human  lips,  raised  a  question  and  a  fear  in 
the  hyena's  heart.  He  had  attacked  women  and 
children  in  the  native  fields  and  he  had  frightened 
their  men  about  their  fires  at  night;  but  he  never 


IN  THE  GERMAN  LINES  45 

had  seen  a  man-thing  who  made  this  sound  that 
reminded  him  more  of  N'uma  angry  than  of  a  man 
afraid. 

When  Tarzan  h.ad  completed  his  repast  he  was 
about  to  rise  and  hurl  a  clean-picked  bone  at  the 
beast  before  he  went  his  way,  leaving  the  remains  of 
his  kill  to  Dango;  but  a  sudden  thought  stayed  him 
and  instead  he  picked  up  the  carcass  of  the  deer, 
threw  it  over  his  shoulder,  and  set  off  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  gulch.  For  a  few  yards  Dango  followed, 
growling,  and  then  realizing  that  he  was  being  robbed 
of  even  a  taste  of  the  luscious  flesh  he  cast  discretion 
to  the  winds  and  charged.  Instantly,  as  though 
Nature  had  given  him  eyes  in  the  back  of  his  head, 
Tarzan  sensed  the  impending  danger  and  drop 
ping  Bara  to  the  ground  turned  with  raised  spear. 
Far  back  went  the  brown,  right  hand  and  then  for 
ward,  lightning-like,  backed  by  the  power  of  giant 
muscles  and  the  weight  of  his  brawn  and  bone.  The 
spear,  released  at  the  right  instant,  drove  straight 
for  Dango,  caught  him  in  the  neck  where  it  joined 
the  shoulders  and  passed  through  the  body. 

When  he  had  withdrawn  the  shaft  from  the  hyena 
Tarzan  shouldered  both  carcasses  and  continued  on 
toward  the  gulch.  Below  lay  Numa  beneath  the 
shade  of  the  lone  tree  and  at  the  ape-man's  call  he 
staggered  slowly  to  his  feet,  yet  weak  as  he  was, 
he  still  growled  savagely,  even  essaying  a  roar  at 
the  sight  of  his  enemy.  Tarzan  let  the  two  bodies 
slide  over  the  rim  of  the  cliff.  "Eat,  Numa!"  he 
cried.  "  It  may  be  that  I  shall  need  you  again."  £le 


46  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

saw  the  lion,  quickened  to  new  life  at  the  sight  of 
food,  spring  upon  the  body  of  the  deer  and  then  he 
left  him  rending  and  tearing  the  flesh  as  he  bolted 
great  pieces  into  his  empty  maw. 

The  following  day  Tarzan  came  within  sight  of 
the  German  lines.  From  a  wooded  spur  of  the  hills 
he  looked  down  upon  the  enemy's  left  flank  and 
beyond  to  the  British  lines.  His  position  gave  him 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  field  of  battle,  and  his  keen 
eyesight  picked  out  many  details  that  would  not 
have  been  apparent  to  a  man  whose  every  sense  was 
not  trained  to  the  highest  point  of  perfection  as  were 
the  ape-man's.  He  noted  machine-gun  emplacements 
cunningly  hidden  from  the  view  of  the  British  and 
listening  posts  placed  well  out  in  No  Man's  Land. 

As  his  interested  gaze  moved  hither  and  thither 
from  one  point  of  interest  to  another  he  heard  from, 
a  point  upon  the  hillside  below  him,  above  the  roar 
of  cannon  and  the  crack  of  rifle  fire,  a  single  rifle 
spit.  Immediately  his  attention  was  centered  upon 
the  spot  where  he  knew  a  sniper  must  be  hid.  Pa 
tiently  he  awaited  the  next  shot  that  would  tell  him 
more  surely  the  exact  location  of  the  rifleman,  and 
when  it  came  he  moved  down  the  steep  hillside  with 
the  stealth  and  quietness  of  a  panther.  Apparently 
he  took  no  cognizance  of  where  he  stepped,  yet 
never  a  loose  stone  was  disturbed  nor  a  twig  broken 
—  it  was  as  though  his  feet  saw. 

Presently,  as  he  passed  through  a  clump  of  bushes, 
be  came  to  the  edge  of  a  low  cliff  and  saw  upon  a 


7Ar  THE  GERMAN  LINES  47 

ledge  some  fifteen  feet  below  him  a  German  soldier 
prone  behind  an  embankment  of  loose  rock  and  leafy 
boughs  that  hid  him  from  the  view  of  the  British 
lines.  The  man  must  have  been  an  excellent  shot 
for  he  was  well  back  of  the  German  lines,  firing  over 
the  heads  of  his  fellows.  His  high-powered  rifle  was 
equipped  with  telescope  sights  and  he  also  carried 
binoculars  which  he  was  in  the  act  of  using  as  Tar 
zan  discovered  him,  either  to  note  the  effect  of  his 
last  shot  or  to  discover  a  new  target.  Tarzan  let  his 
eye  move  quickly  toward  that  part  of  the  British 
line  the  German  seemed  to  be  scanning,  his  keen 
sight  revealing  many  excellent  targets  for  a  rifle 
placed  so  high  above  the  trenches. 

The  Hun,  evidently  satisfied  with  his  observations, 
laid  aside  his  binoculars  and  again  took  up  his  rifle, 
placed  its  butt  in  the  hollow  of  his  shoulder  and 
took  careful  aim.  At  the  same  instant  a  brown 
body  sprang  outward  from  the  cliff  above  him.  There 
was  no  sound  and  it  is  doubtful  that  the  German  ever 
knew  what  manner  of  creature  it  was  that  alighted 
heavily  upon  his  back,  for  at  the  instant  of  impact 
the  sinewy  fingers  of  the  ape-man  circled  the  hairy 
throat  of  the  Boche.  There  was  a  moment  of  futile 
struggling  followed  by  the  sudden  realization  of 
dissolution  —  the  sniper  was  dead. 

Lying  behind  the  rampart  of  rocks  and  boughs, 
Tarzan  looked  down  upon  the  scene  below.  Near  at 
hand  were  the  trenches  of  the  Germans.  He  could 
see  officers  and  men  moving  about  in  them  and  almost 
*&  front  of  him  a  well-hidden  machine  gun  was  tra- 


48  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

versing  No  Man's  Land  in  an  oblique  direction,  strik 
ing  the  British  at  such  an  angle  as  to  make  it 
difficult  for  them  to  locate  it. 

Tarzan  watched,  toying  idly  with  the  rifle  of  the 
dead  German.  Presently  he  fell  to  examining  the 
mechanism  of  the  piece.  He  glanced  again  toward 
the  German  trenches  and  changed  the  adjustment  of 
the  sights,  then  he  placed  the  rifle  to  his  shoulder 
and  took  aim.  Tarzan  was  an  excellent  shot.  With 
his  civilized  friends  he  had  hunted  big  game  with  the 
weapons  of  civilization  and  though  he  never  had 
killed  except  for  food  or  in  self-defense  he  had 
amused  himself  firing  at  inanimate  targets  thrown 
into  the  air  and  had  perfected  himself  in  the  use 
of  firearms  without  realizing  that  he  had  done  so. 
Now  indeed  would  he  hunt  big  game.  A  slow  smile 
touched  his  lips  as  his  finger  closed  gradually  upon 
the  trigger.  The  rifle  spoke  and  a  German  machine 
gunner  collapsed  behind  his  weapon.  In  three  min 
utes  Tarzan  picked  off  the  crew  of  that  gun.  Then 
he  potted  a  German  officer  emerging  from  a  dug 
out  and  the  three  men  in  the  bay  with  him.  Tarzan 
was  careful  to  leave  no  one  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
to  question  how  Germans  could  be  shot  in  German 
trenches  when  they  were  entirely  concealed  from 
enemy  view. 

Again  adjusting  his  sights  he  took  a  long-range 
shot  at  a  distant  machine-gun  crew  to  his  right. 
With  calm  deliberation  he  wiped  them  out  to  a  man. 
Two  guns  were  silenced.  He  saw  men  running 
through  the  trenches  and  he  picked  off  several  of 


IN  THE  GERMAN  LINES  49 

them.  By  this  time  the  Germans  were  aware  that 
something  was  amiss  —  that  an  uncanny  sniper  had 
discovered  a  point  of  vantage  from  which  this  sector 
of  the  trenches  was  plainly  visible  to  him.  At  first 
they  sought  to  discover  his  location  in  No  Man's 
Land;  but  when  an  officer  looking  over  the  parapet 
through  a  periscope  was  struck  full  in  the  back  of 
the  head  with  a  rifle  bullet  which  passed  through  his 
skull  and  fell  to  the  bottom  of  the  trench  they 
realized  that  it  was  beyond  the  parados  rather  than 
the  parapet  that  they  should  search. 

One  of  the  soldiers  picked  up  the  bullet  that  had 
killed  his  officer  and  then  it  was  that  real  excitement 
prevailed  in  that  particular  bay,  for  the  bullet  was 
obviously  of  German  make.  Hugging  the  parados, 
messengers  carried  the  word  in  both  directions  and 
presently  periscopes  were  leveled  above  the  parados 
and  keen  eyes  were  searching  out  the  traitor.  It  did 
not  take  them  long  to  locate  the  position  of  the  hid 
den  sniper  and  then  Tarzan  saw  a  machine  gun  being 
trained  upon  him.  Before  it  had  gotten  into  action 
its  crew  lay  dead  about  it;  but  there  were  other 
men  to  take  their  places,  reluctantly  perhaps;  but 
driven  on  by  their  officers  they  were  forced  to  it 
and  at  the  same  time  two  other  machine  guns  were 
swung  around  toward  the  ape-man  and  put  into 
operation. 

Realizing  that  the  game  was  about  up  Tarzan  with 
a  farewell  shot  laid  aside  the  rifle  and  melted  into  the 
hills  behind  him.  For  many  minutes  he  could  hear 
the  sputter  of  machine-gun  fire  concentrated  upon 


50  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  spot  he  had  just  quit  and  smiled  as  he  contem 
plated  the  waste  of  German  ammunition. 

"They  have  paid  heavily  for  Wasimbu,  the 
Waziri,  whom  they  crucified,  and  for  his  slain  fel 
lows,"  he  mused;  "but  for  Jane  they  can  never 
pay  —  no,  not  if  I  killed  them  all." 

After  dark  that  night  he  circled  the  flanks  of  both 
armies  and  passed  through  the  British  out-guards 
and  into  the  British  lines.  No  man  saw  him  come. 
No  man  knew  that  he  was  there. 

Headquarters  of  the  Second  Rhodesians  occupied 
a  sheltered  position  far  enough  back  of  the  lines 
to  be  comparatively  safe  from  enemy  observation. 
Even  lights  were  permitted  and  Colonel  Capell  sat 
before  a  field  table,  on  which  was  spread  a  military 
map,  talking  with  several  of  his  officers.  A  large 
tree  spread  above  them,  a  lantern  sputtered  dimly 
upon  the  table,  while  a  small  fire  burned  upon  the 
ground  close  at  hand.  The  enemy  had  no  planes  and 
no  other  observers  could  have  seen  the  lights  from 
the  German  lines. 

The  officers  were  discussing  the  advantage  in  num 
bers  possessed  by  the  enemy  and  the  inability  of  the 
British  to  more  than  hold  their  present  position. 
They  could  not  advance.  Already  they  had  sus 
tained  severe  losses  in  every  attack  and  had  always 
been  driven  back  by  overwhelming  numbers.  There 
were  hidden  machine  guns,  too,  that  bothered  the 
colonel  considerably.  It  was  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  he  often  reverted  to  them  during  the  conver 
sation. 


IN  THE  GERMAN  LINES  51 

"  Something  silenced  them  for  a  while  this  after 
noon,"  said  one  of  the  younger  officers.  "  I  was 
observing  at  the  time  and  I  couldn't  make  out  what 
the  fuss  was  about;  but  they  seemed  to  be  having  a 
devil  of  a  time  in  a  section  of  trench  on  their  left. 
At  one  time  I  could  have  sworn  they  were  attacked 
in  the  rear  —  I  reported  it  to  you  at  the  time,  sir, 
you'll  recall  —  for  the  blighters  were  pepperin'  away 
at  the  side  of  that  bluff  behind  them.  I  could  see 
the  dirt  fly.  I  don't  know  what  it  could  have  been." 

There  was  a  slight  rustling  among  the  branches 
of  the  tree  above  them  and  simultaneously  a  lithe, 
brown  body  dropped  in  their  midst.  Hands  moved 
quickly  to  the  butts  of  pistols ;  but  otherwise  there 
was  no  movement  among  the  officers.  First  they 
looked  wonderingly  at  the  almost  naked  white  man 
standing  there  with  the  firelight  playing  upon 
rounded  muscles,  took  in  the  primitive  attire  and 
the  equally  primitive  armament  and  then  all  eyes 
turned  toward  the  colonel. 

"Who  the  devil  are  you,  sir?"  snapped  that 
officer. 

"  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,"  replied  the  newcomer. 

"Oh,  Greystoke!"  cried  a  major,  and  stepped 
forward  with  outstretched  hand. 

"Preswick,"  acknowledged  Tarzan  as  he  took  the 
proffered  hand. 

"I  didn't  recognize  you  at  first,"  apologized  the 
major.  "The  last  time  I  saw  you  you  were  in  Lon 
don  in  evening  dress.  Quite  a  difference  —  'pon  my 
word,  man,  you'll  have  to  admit  it." 


52  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tarzan  smiled  and  turned  toward  the  colonel.  "  I 
overheard  your  conversation,"  he  said.  "  I  have  just 
come  from  behind  the  German  lines.  Possibly  I  can 
help  you." 

The  colonel  looked  questioningly  toward  Major 
Preswick  who  quickly  rose  to  the  occasion  and  pre 
sented  the  ape-man  to  his  commanding  officer  and 
follows.  Briefly  Tarzan  told  them  what  it  was  that 
brought  him  out  alone  in  pursuit  of  the  Germans. 

"And  now  you  have  come  to  join  us?"  asked  the 
colonel. 

Tarzan  shook  his  head.  "  Not  regularly,"  he 
replied.  "I  must  fight  in  my  own  way;  but  I  can 
help  you.  Whenever  I  wish  I  can  enter  the  German 
lines." 

Capell  smiled  and  shook  his  head.  "It's  not  so 
easy  as  you  think,"  he  said;  "I've  lost  two  good 
officers  in  the  last  week  trying  it  —  and  they  were 
experienced  men;  none  better  in  the  Intelligence 
Department." 

"Is  it  more  difficult  than  entering  the  British 
lines?"  asked  Tarzan. 

The  colonel  was  about  to  reply  when  a  new 
thought  appeared  to  occur  to  him  and  he  looked 
quizzically  at  the  ape-man.  "Who  brought  you 
here?"  he  asked.  "Who  passed  you  through  our 
out-guards  ?  " 

"I  have  just  come  through  the  German  lines  and 
yours  and  passed  through  your  camp,"  he  replied. 
"Send  word  to  ascertain, if  anyone  saw  me." 

"But  who  accompanied  you?"  insisted  Capell. 


IN  THE  GERMAN  LINES  53 

"I  came  alone,"  replied  Tarzan  and  then,  draw 
ing  himself  to  his  full  height,  "You  men  of  civili 
zation,  when  you  come  into  the  jungle,  are  as  dead 
among  the  quick.  Manu,  the  monkey,  is  a  sage  by 
comparison.  I  marvel  that  you  exist  at  all  —  only 
your  numbers,  your  weapons,  and  your  power  of 
reasoning  save  you.  Had  I  a  few  hundred  great 
apes  with  your  reasoning  power  I  could  drive  the 
Germans  into  the  ocean  as  quickly  as  the  remnant 
of  them  could  reach  the  coast.  Fortunate  it  is  for 
you  that  the  dumb  brutes  cannot  combine.  Could 
they,  Africa  would  remain  forever  free  of  men.  But 
come,  can  I  help  you?  Would  you  like  to  know 
where  several  machine-gun  emplacements  are  hid 
den?" 

The  colonel  assured  him  that  they  would,  and  a 
moment  later  Tarzan  had  traced  upon  the  map  the 
location  of  three  that  had  been  bothering  the 
English.  "There  is  a  weak  spot  here,"  he  said, 
placing  a  finger  upon  the  map.  "It  is  held  by 
blacks;  but  the  machine  guns  out  in  front  are 
manned  by  whites.  If  —  wait!  I  have  a  plan.  You 
can  fill  that  trench  with  your  own  men  and  enfilade 
the  trenches  to  its  right  with  their  own  machine 
guns." 

Colonel  Capell  smiled  and  shook  his  head.  "It 
sounds  very  easy,"  he  said. 

"It  is  easy  —  for  me,"  replied  the  ape-man.  "I 
can  empty  that  section  of  trench  without  a  shot.  I 
was  raised  in  the  jungle  —  I  know  the  jungle  folk 
—  the  Gomangani  as  well  as  the  others.  Look  for 


54  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

me  again  on  the  second  night,"  and  he  turned  to 
leave. 

"  Wait,"  said  the  colonel.  "  I  will  send  an  officer 
to  pass  you  through  the  lines." 

Tarzan  smiled  and  moved  away.  As  he  was  leav 
ing  the  little  group  about  headquarters  he  passed  a 
small  figure  wrapped  in  an  officer's  heavy  overcoat. 
The  collar  was  turned  up  and  the  visor  of  the  mili 
tary  cap  pulled  well  down  over  the  eyes ;  but,  as  the 
ape-man  passed,  the  light  from  the  fire  illuminated 
the  features  of  the  newcomer  for  an  instant,  reveal 
ing  to  Tarzan  a  vaguely  familiar  face.  Some  officer 
he  had  known  in  London,  doubtless,  he  surmised,  and 
went  his  way  through  the  British  camp  and  the 
Briti&h  lines  all  unknown  to  the  watchful  sentinels 
of  the  out-guard. 

Nearly  all  night  he  moved  across  Kilimanjaro's 
foothills,  tracking  by  instinct  an  unknown  way,  for 
he  guessed  that  what  he  sought  would  be  found  on 
some  wooded  slope  higher  up  than  he  had  come  upon 
his  other  recent  journeys  in  this,  to  him,  little  known 
country.  Three  hours  before  dawn  his  keen  nostrils 
apprised  him  that  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  he  would 
find  what  he  wanted  and  so  he  climbed  into  a  tall 
tree  and  settled  himself  for  a  few  hours  sleep. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WHEN  THE  LION  FED 

KUDU,  the  sun,  was  well  up  in  the  heavens  when 
Tarzan  awoke.  The  ape-man  stretched  his 
giant  limbs,  ran  his  fingers  through  his  thick  hair, 
and  swung  lightly  down  to  earth.  Immediately  he 
took  up  the  trail  he  had  come  in  search  of,  follow 
ing  it  by  scent  down  into  a  deep  ravine.  Cautiously 
he  went  now,  for  his  nose  told  him  that  the  quarry 
was  close  at  hand  and  presently  from  an  overhanging 
bough  he  looked  down  upon  Horta,  the  boar,  and 
many  of  his  kinsmen.  Unslinging  his  bow  and  select 
ing  an  arrow  Tarzan  fitted  the  shaft  and,  drawing 
it  far  back,  took  careful  aim  at  the  largest  of  the 
great  pigs.  In  the  ape-man's  teeth  were  other 
arrows,  and  no  sooner  had  the  first  one  sped,  than 
he  had  fitted  and  shot  another  bolt.  Instantly  the 
pigs  were  in  turmoil  not  knowing  from  whence  the 
danger  threatened.  They  stood  stupidly  at  first  and 
then  commenced  milling  around  until  six  of  their 
number  lay  dead  or  dying  about  them,  then  with  a 
chorus  of  grunts  and  squeals  they  started  off  at  a 
wild  run,  disappearing  quickly  in  the  dense  under 
brush. 

Tarzan  then  descended  from  the  tree,  dispatched 
55 


56  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

those  that  were  not  already  dead  and  proceeded 
to  skin  the  carcasses.  As  he  worked,  rapidly  and 
with  great  skill,  he  neither  hummed  nor  whistled 
as  does  the  average  man  of  civilization.  It  was  in 
numerous  little  ways  such  as  these  that  he  differed 
from  other  men,  due,  probably,  to  his  early  jungle 
training.  The  beasts  of  the  jungle  that  he  had  been 
reared  among  were  playful  to  maturity  and  seldom 
thereafter.  His  fellow-apes,  especially  the  bulls, 
became  fierce  and  surly  as  they  grew  older.  Life 
was  a  serious  matter  during  lean  seasons  —  one  had 
to  fight  to  secure  one's  share  of  food  then  and  the 
habit  once  formed  became  lifelong.  Hunting  for 
food  was  the  life  labor  of  the  jungle  bred,  and  a  life 
labor  is  a  thing  not  to  be  approached  with  levity 
nor  prosecuted  lightly.  So  all  work  found  Tarzan 
serious,  though  he  still  retained  what  the  other 
beasts  lost  as  they  grew  older  —  a  sense  of  humor, 
which  he  gave  play  to  when  the  mood  suited  him. 
It  was  a  grim  humor  and  sometimes  ghastly;  but  it 
satisfied  Tarzan. 

Then,  too,  were  one  to  sing  and  whistle  while 
working  on  the  ground,  concentration  would  be 
impossible.  Tarzan  possessed  the  ability  to  concen 
trate  each  of  his  five  senses  upon  its  particular  busi 
ness.  Now  he  worked  at  skinning  the  six  pigs  and  his 
eyes  and  his  fingers  worked  as  though  there  was 
naught  else  in  all  the  world  than  these  six  carcasses ; 
but  his  ears  and  his  nose  were  as  busily  engaged  else 
where —  the  former  ranging  the  forest  all  about  and 
the  latter  assaying  each  passing  zephyr.  It  was 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  57 

his  nose  that  first  discovered  the  approach  of  Sabot, 
the  lioness,  when  the  wind  shifted  for  a  moment. 

As  clearly  as  though  he  had  seen  her  with  his  eyes, 
Tarzan  knew  that  the  lioness  had  caught  the  scent 
of  the  freshly  killed  pigs  and  immediately  had  moved 
down  wind  in  their  direction.  He  knew  from  the 
strength  of  the  scent  spoor  and  the  rate  of  the 
wind  about  how  far  away  she  was  and  that  she  was 
approaching  from  behind  him.  He  was  finishing  the 
last  pig  and  he  did  not  hurry.  The  five  pelts  lay  close 
at  hand  —  he  had  been  careful  to  keep  them  thus 
together  and  near  him  —  an  ample  tree  waved  its 
low  branches  above  him. 

He  did  not  even  turn  his  head  for  he  knew  she  was 
not  yet  in  sight ;  but  he  bent  his  ears  just  a  bit  more 
sharply  for  the  first  sound  of  her  nearer  approach. 
When  the  final  skin  had  been  removed  he  rose.  Now 
he  heard  Sabor  in  the  bushes  to  his  rear;  but  yet 
not  too  close.  Leisurely  he  gathered  up  the  six 
pelts  and  one  of  the  carcasses  and  as  the  lioness 
appeared  between  the  boles  of  two  trees  he  swung 
upward  into  the  branches  above  him.  Here  he  hung 
the  hides  over  a  limb,  seated  himself  comfortably 
upon  another  with  his  back  against  the  bole  of  the 
tree,  cut  a  hind  quarter  from  the  carcass  he  had  car 
ried  with  him  and  proceeded  to  satisfy  his  hunger. 
Sabor  slunk,  growling,  from  the  brush,  cast  a  wary 
eye  upward  toward  the  ape-man  and  then  fell  upon 
the  nearest  carcass. 

Tarzan  looked  down  upon  her  and  grinned,  recall 
ing  an  argument  he  had  once  had  with  a  famous  big- 


58  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

game  hunter  who  declared  that  the  king  of  beasts  ate 
only  what  he  himself  had  killed.  Tarzan  knew  bet 
ter  for  he  had  seen  Numa  and  Sabor  stoop  even  to 
carrion. 

Having  filled  his  belly,  the  ape-man  fell  to  work 
upon  the  hides  —  all  large  and  strong.  First  he  cut 
strips  from  them  about  half  an  inch  wide.  When 
he  had  a  sufficient  number  of  these  strips  he  sewed 
two  of  the  hides  together,  afterwards  piercing  holes 
every  three  or  four  inches  around  the  edges.  Run 
ning  another  strip  through  these  holes  gave  him  a 
large  bag  with  a  draw  string.  In  similar  fashion  he 
produced  four  other  like  bags,  but  smaller,  from  the 
four  remaining  hides  and  had  several  strips  left 
over. 

All  this  done  he  threw  a  large,  juicy  fruit  at 
Sabor,  cached  the  remainder  of  the  pig  in  a  crotch 
of  the  tree  and  swung  off  toward  the  southwest 
through  the  middle  terraces  of  the  forest,  carrying 
his  five  bags  with  him.  Straight  he  went  to  the  rim 
of  the  gulch  where  he  had  imprisoned  Numa,  the 
lion.  Very  stealthily  he  approached  the  edge  and 
peared  over.  Numa  was  not  in  sight.  Tarzan  sniffed 
and  listened.  He  could  hear  nothing,  yet  he  knew 
that  Numa  must  be  within  the  cave.  He  hoped  that 
he  slept  —  much  depended  upon  Numa  not  discover 
ing  him. 

Cautiously  he  lowered  himself  over  the  edge  of  the 
cliff,  and  with  utter  noiselessness  commenced  the 
descent  toward  the  bottom  of  the  gulch.  He  stopped 
often  and  turned  his  keen  eyes  and  ears  in  the  direc- 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  59 

tion  of  the  cave's  mouth  at  the  far  end  of  the  gulch, 
some  hundred  feet  away.  As  he  neared  the  foot  of 
the  cliff  his  danger  increased  greatly.  If  he  could 
reach  the  bottom  and  cover  half  the  distance  to  the 
tree  that  stood  in  the  center  of  the  gulch  he  would 
feel  comparatively  safe  for  then,  even  if  Numa 
appeared,  he  felt  that  he  could  beat  him  either  to  the 
cliff  or  to  the  tree,  and  to  scale  the  first  thirty  feet 
of  the  cliff  rapidly  enough  to  elude  the  leaping  beast 
would  require  a  running  start  of  at  least  twenty 
feet  as  there  were  no  very  good  hand-  or  footholds 
close  to  the  bottom  —  he  had  had  to  run  up  the  first 
twenty  feet  like  a  squirrel  running  up  a  tree  that 
other  time  he  had  beaten  an  infuriated  Numa  to  it. 
He  had  no  desire  to  attempt  it  again  unless  the  con 
ditions  were  equally  favorable  at  least,  for  he  had 
escaped  Numa's  raking  talons  by  only  a  matter  of 
inches  on  the  former  occasion. 

At  last  he  stood  upon  the  floor  of  the  gulch. 
Silent  as  a  disembodied  spirit  he  advanced  toward 
the  tree.  He  was  half  way  there  and  no  sign  of 
Numa.  He  reached  the  scarred  bole  from  which  the 
famished  lion  had  devoured  the  bark  and  even  torn 
pieces  of  the  wood  itself  and  yet  Numa  had  not  ap 
peared.  As  he  drew  himself  up  to  the  lower  branches 
he  commenced  to  wonder  if  Numa  were  in  the  cave 
after  all.  Could  it  be  possible  that  he  had  forced 
the  barrier  of  rocks  with  which  Tarzan  had  plugged 
the  other  end  of  the  passage  where  it  opened  into 
the  outer  world  of  freedom?  Or  was  Numa  dead? 
The  ape-man  doubted  the  verity  of  the  latter  sug- 


60  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

gestion  as  he  had  fed  the  lion  the  entire  carcasses 
of  a  deer  and  a  hyena  only  a  few  days  since  —  he 
could  not  have  starved  in  so  short  a  time,  while  the 
little  rivulet  running  across  the  gulch  furnished 
him  with  water  a-plenty. 

Tarzan  started  to  descend  and  investigate  the 
cavern  when  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  save 
effort  were  he  to  lure  Numa  out  instead.  Acting 
upon  the  thought  he  uttered  a  low  growl.  Imme 
diately  he  was  rewarded  by  the  sound  of  movement 
within  the  cave  and  an  instant  later  a  wild-eyed, 
haggard  lion  rushed  forth  ready  to  face  the  devil 
himself  were  he  edible.  When  Numa  saw  Tarzan, 
fat  and  sleek,  perched  in  the  tree  he  became  suddenly 
the  embodiment  of  frightful  rage.  His  eyes  and  his 
nose  told  him  that  this  was  the  creature  responsible 
for  his  predicament  and  also  that  this  creature  was 
good  to  eat.  Frantically  the  lion  sought  to  scramble 
up  the  bole  of  the  tree.  Twice  he  leaped  high  enough 
to  catch  the  lowest  branches  with  his  paws ;  but  both 
times  he  fell  backward  to  the  earth.  Each  time  he 
became  more  furious.  Kis  growls  and  roars  were 
incessant  and  horrible  and  all  the  time  Tarzan  sat 
grinning  down  upon  him,  taunting  him  in  jungle 
Billingsgate  for  his  inability  to  reach  him  and  men 
tally  exulting  that  always  Numa  was  wasting  his 
already  waning  strength. 

Finally  the  ape-man  rose  and  unslung  his  rope. 
He  arranged  the  coils  carefully  in  his  left  hand  and 
the  noose  in  his  right,  and  then  he  took  a  position 
with  each  foot  on  one  of  two  branches  that  lay  in 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  61 

about  the  same  horizontal  plane  and  with  his  back 
pressed  firmly  against  the  stem  of  the  tree.  There 
he  stood  hurling  insults  at  Numa  until  the  beast 
was  again  goaded  into  leaping  upward  at  him,  and 
as  Numa  rose  the  noose  dropped  quickly  over  his 
head  and  about  his  neck.  A  quick  movement  of 
Tarzan's  rope  hand  tightened  the  coil  and  when 
Numa  slipped  backward  to  the  ground  only  his  hind 
feet  touched,  for  the  ape-man  held  him  swinging  by 
the  neck. 

Moving  slowly  outward  upon  the  two  branches 
Tarzan  swung  Numa  out  so  that  he  could  not  reach 
the  bole  of  the  tree  with  his  raking  talons,  then  he 
made  the  rope  fast  after  drawing  the  lion  clear  of 
the  ground,  dropped  his  five  pigskin  sacks  to  earth 
and  leaped  down  himself.  Numa  was  striking  fran 
tically  at  the  grass  rope  with  his  fore  claws.  At  any 
moment  he  might  sever  it  and  Tarzan  must,  there 
fore,  work  rapidly. 

First  he  drew  the  larger  bag  over  Numa's  head 
and  secured  it  about  his  neck  with  the  draw  string, 
then  he  managed,  after  considerable  effort,  during 
which  he  barely  escaped  being  torn  to  ribbons  by 
the  mighty  talons,  to  hog-tie  Numa  —  drawing  his 
four  legs  together  and  securing  them  in  that  posi 
tion  with  the  strips  trimmed  from  the  pigskins. 

By  this  time  the  lion's  efforts  had  almost  ceased  — 
it  was  evident  that  he  was  being  rapidly  strangled 
and  as  that  did  not  at  all  suit  the  purpose  of  the 
Tarmangani  the  latter  swung  again  into  the  tree, 
unfastened  the  rope  from  above  and  lowered  the  lioa 


62  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

to  the  ground  where  he  immediately  followed  it  and 
loosed  the  noose  about  Numa's  neck.  Then  he 
drew  his  hunting  knife  and  cut  two  round  holes  in 
the  front  of  the  head  bag  opposite  the  lion's  eyes 
for  the  double  purpose  of  permitting  him  to  see  and 
giving  him  sufficient  air  to  breathe. 

This  done  Tarzan  busied  himself  fitting  the  other 
bags,  one  over  each  of  Numa's  formidably  armed 
paws.  Those  on  the  hind  feet  he  secured  not  only 
by  tightening  the  draw  strings  but  also  rigged  gar 
ters  that  fastened  tightly  around  the  legs  above  the 
hocks.  He  secured  the  front-feet  bags  in  place  simi 
larly  above  the  great  knees.  Now,  indeed,  was 
Numa,  the  lion,  reduced  to  the  harmlessness  of  Bara, 
the  deer. 

By  now  Numa  was  showing  signs  of  returning 
life.  He  gasped  for  breath  and  struggled;  but  the 
strips  of  pigskin  that  held  his  four  legs  together 
were  numerous  and  tough.  Tarzan  watched  and  was 
sure  that  they  would  hold,  yet  Numa  is  mightily 
muscled  and  there  was  the  chance,  always,  that  he 
might  struggle  free  of  his  bonds  after  which  all 
would  depend  upon  the  efficacy  of  Tarzan's  bags  and 
draw  strings. 

After  Numa  had  again  breathed  normally  and  was 
able  to  roar  out  his  protests  and  his  rage,  his  strug 
gles  increased  to  Titanic  proportions  for  a  short 
time ;  but  as  a  lion's  powers  of  endurance  are  in  no 
way  proportionate  to  his  size  and  strength  he  soon 
tired  and  lay  quietly.  Amid  renewed  growling  and 
another  futile  attempt  to  free  himself,  Numa  was 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  63 

finally  forced  to  submit  to  the  further  indignity  of 
having  a  rope  secured  about  his  neck;  but  this  time 
it  was  no  noose  that  might  tighten  and  strangle  him ; 
but  a  bowline  knot,  which  does  not  tighten  or  slip 
under  strain. 

The  other  end  of  the  rope  Tarzan  fastened  to  the 
stem  of  the  tree,  then  he  quickly  cut  the  bonds  secur 
ing  Numa's  legs  and  leaped  aside  as  the  beast  sprang 
to  his  feet.  For  a  moment  the  lion  stood  with  legs 
far  outspread,  then  he  raised  first  one  paw  and  then 
another,  shaking  them  energetically  in  an  effort  to 
dislodge  the  strange  footgear  that  Tarzan  had  fas 
tened  upon  them.  Finally  he  began  to  paw  at  the 
bag  upon  his  head.  The  ape-man,  standing  with 
ready  spear,  watched  Numa's  efforts  intently. 
Would  the  bags  hold?  He  sincerely  hoped  so.  Or 
would  all  his  labor  prove  fruitless? 

As  the  clinging  things  upon  his  feet  and  face 
resisted  his  every  effort  to  dislodge  them,  Numa  be 
came  frantic.  He  rolled  upon  the  ground,  fighting, 
biting,  scratching,  and  roaring ;  he  leaped  to  his  feet 
and  sprang  into  the  air ;  he  charged  Tarzan,  only  to 
be  brought  to  a  sudden  stop  as  the  rope  securing  him 
to  the  tree  tautened.  Then  Tarzan  stepped  in  and 
rapped  him  smartly  on  the  head  with  the  shaft  of 
his  spear.  Numa  reared  upon  his  hind  feet  and 
struck  at  the  ape-man  and  in  return  received  a  cuff 
on  one  ear  that  sent  him  reeling  sideways.  When  he 
returned  to  the  attack  he  was  again  sent  sprawling. 
After  the  fourth  effort  it  appeared  to  dawn  upon 
the  king  of  beasts  that  he  had  met  his  master,  hie 


64  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

head  and  tail  dropped  and  when  Tarzan  advanced 
upon  him  he  backed  away,  though  still  growling. 

Leaving  Numa  tied  to  the  tree  Tarzan  entered  the 
tunnel  and  removed  the  barricade  from  the  opposite 
end,  after  which  he  returned  to  the  gulch  and  strode 
straight  for  the  tree.  Numa  lay  in  his  path  and  as 
Tarzan  approached  growled  menacingly.  The  ape- 
man  cuffed  him  aside  and  unfastened  the  rope  from 
the  tree.  Then  ensued  a  half-hour  of  stubbornly 
fought  battle  while  Tarzan  endeavored  to  drive 
Numa  through  the  tunnel  ahead  of  him  and  Numa 
persistently  refused  to  be  driven.  At  last,  however, 
by  dint  of  the  unrestricted  use  of  his  spear  point, 
the  ape-man  succeeded  in  forcing  the  lion  to  move 
ahead  of  him  and  eventually  guided  him  into  the 
passageway.  Once  inside,  the  problem  became 
simpler  since  Tarzan  followed  closely  in  the  rear 
with  his  sharp  spear  point,  an  unremitting  incentive 
to  forward  movement  on  the  part  of  the  lion.  If 
Numa  hesitated  he  was  prodded.  If  he  backed  up 
the  result  was  extremely  painful  and  so,  being  a  wise 
lion  who  was  learning  rapidly,  he  decided  to  keep  on 
going  and  at  the  end  of  the  tunnel,  emerging  into 
the  outer  world,  he  sensed  freedom,  raised  his  head 
and  tail  and  started  off  at  a  run. 

Tarzan,  still  on  his  hands  and  knees  just  inside 
the  entrance,  was  taken  unaware  with  the  result  that 
he  was  sprawled  forward  upon  his  face  and  dragged 
a  hundred  yards  across  the  rocky  ground  before 
Numa  was  brought  to  a  stand.  It  was  a  scratched 
and  angry  Tarzan  who  scrambled  to  his  feet.  At 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  65 

first  he  was  tempted  to  chastise  Numa;  but  as  the 
ape-man  seldom  permitted  his  temper  to  guide  him 
in  any  direction  not  countenanced  by  reason,  he 
quickly  abandoned  the  idea. 

Having  taught  Numa  the  rudiments  of  being 
driven,  he  now  urged  him  forward  and  there  com 
menced  as  strange  a  journey  as  the  unrecorded  his 
tory  of  the  jungle  contains.  The  balance  of  that 
day  was  eventful  both  for  Tarzan  and  for  Numa, 
From  open  rebellion  at  first  the  lion  passed  through 
stages  of  stubborn  resistance  and  grudging  obedience 
to  final  surrender.  He  was  a  very  tired,  hungry,  and 
thirsty  lion  when  night  overtook  them;  but  there 
was  to  be  no  food  for  him  that  day  or  the  next  — 
Tarzan  did  not  dare  risk  removing  the  head  bag, 
though  he  did  cut  another  hole  which  permitted 
Numa  to  quench  his  thirst  shortly  after  dark.  Then 
he  tied  him  to  a  tree,  sought  food  for  himself,  and 
stretched  out  among  the  branches  above  his  captive 
for  a  few  hours'  sleep. 

Early  the  following  morning  they  resumed  their 
journey,  winding  over  the  low  foothills  south  of 
Kilimanjaro,  toward  the  east.  The  beasts  of  the 
jungle  who  saw  them  took  one  look  and  fled.  The 
scent  spoor  of  Numa,  alone,  might  have  been  enough 
to  have  provoked  flight  in  many  of  the  lesser  animals 
but  the  sight  of  this  strange  apparition  that  smelled 
like  a  lion,  but  looked  like  nothing  they  ever  had 
seen  before,  being  led  through  the  jungles  by  a  giant 
Tarmangani  was  too  much  for  even  the  more  formi 
dable  denizens  of  the  wild. 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


Sabor,  the  lioness,  recognizing  from  a  distance  the 
scent  of  her  lord  and  master  intermingled  with 
that  of  a  Tarmangani  and  the  hide  of  Horta,  the 
boar,  trotted  through  the  aisles  of  the  forest  to  in 
vestigate.  Tarzan  and  Numa  heard  her  coming,  for 
she  voiced  a  plaintive  and  questioning  whine  as  the 
baffling  mixture  of  odors  aroused  her  curiosity  and 
her  fears,  for  lions,  however  terrible  they  may  appear, 
are  often  timid  animals  and  Sabor  being  of  the 
gentler  sex  was,  naturally,  habitually  inquisitive  as 
well. 

Tarzan  unslung  his  spear  for  he  knew  that  he 
might  now  easily  have  to  fight  to  retain  his  prize. 
Numa  halted  and  turned  his  outraged  head  in  the 
direction  of  the  coming  she.  He  voiced  a  throaty 
growl  that  was  almost  a  purr.  Tarzan  was  upon  the 
point  of  prodding  him  on  again  when  Sabor  broke 
into  view,  and  behind  her  the  ape-man  saw  that  which 
gave  him  instant  pause  —  four  full-grown  lions-  trail 
ing  the  lioness. 

To  have  goaded  Numa  then  into  active  resistance 
might  have  brought  the  whole  herd  down  upon  him 
and  so  Tarzan  waited  to  learn  first  what  their  at 
titude  would  be.  He  had  no  idea  of  relinquishing 
his  lion  without  a  battle;  but  knowing  lions  as  he 
did,  he  knew  that  there  was  no  assurance  as  to  just 
what  the  newcomers  would  do. 

The  lioness  was  young  and  sleek,  and  the  four 
males  were  in  their  prime  —  as  handsome  lions  as  he 
ever  had  seen.  Three  of  the  males  were  scantily 
maned  but  one,  the  foremost,  carried  a  splendid? 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  67 

black  mane  that  rippled  in  the  breeze  as  he  trotted 
majestically  forward.  The  lioness  halted  a  hundred 
feet  from  Tarzan,  while  the  lions  came  on  past  her 
and  stopped  a  few  feet  nearer.  Their  ears  were 
upstanding  and  their  eyes  filled  with  curiosity.  Tar 
zan  could  not  even  guess  what  they  might  do.  The 
lion  at  his  side  faced  them  fully,  standing  silent  now 
and  watchful. 

Suddenly  the  lioness  gave  vent  to  another  little 
whine,  at  which  Tarzan's  lion  voiced  a  terrific  roar 
and  leaped  forward  straight  toward  the  beast  of  the 
black  mane.  The  sight  of  this  awesome  creature 
with  the  strange  face  was  too  much  for  the  lion 
toward  which  he  leaped,  dragging  Tarzan  after 
him,  and  with  a  growl  the  lion  turned  and  fled,  fol 
lowed  by  his  companions  and  the  she. 

Numa  attempted  to  follow  them;  but  Tarzan 
held  him  in  leash  and  when  he  turned  upon  him  in 
rage,  beat  him  unmercifully  across  the  head  with  his 
spear.  Shaking  his  head  and  growling,  the  lion  at 
last  moved  off  again  in  the  direction  they  had  been 
traveling ;  but  it  was  an  hour  before  he  ceased  to  sulk. 
He  was  very  hungry  —  half  famished  in  fact — 'and 
consequently  of  an  ugly  temper,  yet  so  thoroughly 
subdued  by  Tarzan's  heroic  methods  of  lion  taming 
that  he  was  presently  pacing  along  at  the  ape-man's 
side  like  some  huge  St.  Bernard. 

It  was  dark  when  the  two  approached  the  British 
right  after  a  slight  delay  farther  back  because  of 
a  German  patrol  it  had  been  necessary  to  elude. 
A  short  distance  from  the  British  line  of  out-guard 


68  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

sentinels  Tarzan  tied  Numa  to  a  tree  and  continued 
on  alone.  He  evaded  a  sentinel,  passed  the  out- 
guard  and  support  and  by  devious  ways  came  again 
to  Colonel  Capell's  headquarters  where  he  appeared 
before  the  officers  gathered  there  as  a  disembodied 
spirit  materializing  out  of  thin  air. 

When  they  saw  who  it  was  that  came  thus  unan 
nounced  they  smiled  and  the  colonel  scratched  his 
head  in  perplexity. 

"Someone  should  be  shot  for  this,"  he  said.  "I 
might  just  as  well  not  establish  an  out-post  if  a 
man  can  filter  through  whenever  he  pleases." 

Tarzan  smiled.  "Do  not  blame  them,"  he  said, 
"for  I  am  not  a  man.  I  am  a  Tarmangani.  Any 
Mangani  who  wished  to,  could  enter  your  camp 
almost  at  will ;  but  if  you  had  them  for  sentinels  no 
one  could  enter  without  their  knowledge." 

"What  are  the  Mangani?"  asked  the  colonel. 
"Perhaps  we  might  enlist  a  bunch  of  the  beggars." 

Tarzan  shook  his  head.  "They  are  the  great 
apes,"  he  explained;  "my  people;  but  you  could 
not  use  them.  They  cannot  concentrate  long  enough 
upon  a  single  idea.  If  I  told  them  of  this  they  would 
be  much  interested  for  a  short  time  —  I  might  even 
hold  the  interest  of  a  few  long  enough  to  get  them 
here  and  explain  their  duties  to  them ;  but  soon  they 
would  lose  interest  and  when  you  needed  them  most 
they  might  be  off  in  the  forest  searching  for  beetles 
instead  of  watching  their  posts.  They  have  the 
minds  of  little  children  —  that  is  why  they  remain 
what  they  are." 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  69 

"You  call  them  Mangani  and  yourself  Tarman- 
gani  —  what  is  the  difference?"  asked  Major 
Preswick. 

"  Tar  means  white,"  replied  Tarzan,  "  and  Man 
gani,  great  ape.  My  name — the  name  they  gave 
me  in  the  tribe  of  Kerchak  —  means  White-skin. 
When  I  was  a  little  balu  my  skin,  I  presume,  looked 
very  white  indeed  against  the  beautiful,  black  coat 
of  Kala,  my  foster  mother  and  so  they  called  me 
Tarzan,  the  Tarmangani.  They  call  you,  too,  Tar- 
mangani,"  he  concluded,  smiling. 

Capell  smiled.  "  It  is  no  reproach,  Greystoke,"  he 
said ;  "  and,  by  Jove,  it  would  be  a  mark  of  distinc 
tion  if  a  fellow  could  act  the  part.  And  now  how 
about  your  plan?  Do  you  still  think  you  can 
empty  the  trench  opposite  our  sector?" 

"Is  it  still  held  by  Gomangani?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"What  are  Gomangani?"  inquired  the  colonel. 
"  It  is  still  held  by  native  troops,  if  that  is  what  you 
mean." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  ape-man,  "  the  Gomangani  are 
the  great  black  apes  —  the  Negroes." 

"  What  do  you  intend  doing  and  what  do  you  want 
us  to  do  ?  "  asked  Capell. 

Tarzan  approached  the  table  and  placed  a  finger 
on  the  map.  "Here  is  a  listening  post,"  he  said; 
"  they  have  a  machine  gun  in  it.  A  tunnel  connects 
it  with  this  trench  at  this  point,"  his  finger  moved 
from  place  to  place  on  the  map  as  he  talked.  "  Give 
me  a  bomb  and  when  you  hear  it  burst  in  this  listen 
ing  post  let  your  men  start  across  No  Man's  Land 


70  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

slowly.  Presently  they  will  hear  a  commotion  in  the 
enemy  trench ;  but  they  need  not  hurry  and  whatever 
they  do,  have  them  come  quietly.  You  might  also 
warn  them  that  I  may  be  in  the  trench  and  that  I 
do  not  care  to  be  shot  or  bayoneted." 

"And  that  is  all,"  queried  Capell,  after  directing 
an  officer  to  give  Tarzan  a  hand  grenade;  "you  will 
empty  the  trench  alone  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly  alone,"  replied  Tarzan  with  a  grim 
smile ;  "  but  I  shall  empty  it,  and,  by  the  way,  your 
men  may  come  in  through  the  tunnel  from  the  listen 
ing  post  if  you  prefer.  In  about  half  an  hour, 
Colonel,"  and  he  turned  and  left  them. 

As  he  passed  through  the  camp  there  flashed 
suddenly  upon  the  screen  of  recollection,  conjured 
there  by  some  reminder  of  his  previous  visit  to 
headquarters,  doubtless,  the  image  of  the  officer  he 
had  passed  as  he  quit  the  colonel  that  other  time 
and  simultaneously  recognition  of  the  face  that  had 
been  revealed  by  the  light  from  the  fire.  He  shook 
his  head  dubiously.  No,  it  could  not  be  and  yet  the 
features  of  the  young  officer  were  identical  with  those 
of  Fraulein  Kircher,  the  German  spy  he  had  seen  at 
German  headquarters  the  night  he  took  Major 
Schneider  from  under  the  nose  of  the  Hun  general 
and  his  staff. 

Beyond  the  last  line  of  sentinels  Tarzan  moved 
quickly  in  the  direction  of  Numa,  the  lion.  The 
beast  was  lying  down  as  Tarzan  approached,  but 
he  rose  as  the  ape-man  reached  his  side.  A  low 
whine  escaped  his  muzzled  lips.  Tarzan  smiled  for 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  71 

he  recognized  in  the  new  note  almost  a  supplica 
tion —  it  was  more  like  the  whine  of  a  hungry  dog 
begging  for  food  than  the  voice  of  the  proud  king 
of  beasts. 

"Soon  you  will  kill  —  and  feed,"  he  murmured 
in  the  vernacular  of  the  great  apes. 

He  unfastened  the  rope  from  about  the  tree  and, 
with  Numa  close  at  his  side,  slunk  into  No  Man's 
Land.  There  was  little  rifle  fire  and  only  an  occa 
sional  shell  vouched  for  the  presence  of  artillery  be 
hind  the  opposing  lines.  As  the  shells  from  both 
sides  were  falling  well  back  of  the  trenches  they 
constituted  no  menace  to  Tarzan;  but  the  noise  of 
them  and  that  of  the  rifle  fire  had  a  marked  effect 
upon  Numa  who  crouched,  trembling,  close  to  the 
Tarmangani  as  though  seeking  protection. 

Cautiously  the  two  beasts  moved  forward  toward 
the  listening  post  of  the  German's.  In  one  hand 
Tarzan  carried  the  bomb  the  English  had  given  him, 
in  the  other  was  the  coiled  rope  attached  to  the  lion. 
At  last  Tarzan  could  see  the  position  a  few  yards 
ahead.  His  keen  eyes  picked  out  the  head  and 
shoulders  of  the  sentinel  on  watch.  The  ape-man 
grasped  the  bomb  firmly  in  his  right  hand.  He 
measured  the  distance  with  his  eye  and  gathered  his 
feet  beneath  him,  then  in  a  single  motion  he  rose  and 
threw  the  missile,  immediately  flattening  himself 
prone  upon  the  ground. 

Five  seconds  later  there  was  a  terrific  explosion 
in  the  center  of  the  listening  post.  Numa  gave  a 
nervous  start  and  attempted  to  break  away;  but 


72  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tarzati  held  him  and  leaping  to  his  feet  ran  forward 
dragging  Numa  after  him.  At  the  edge  of  the  post 
he  saw  below  him  but  slight  evidence  that  the  position 
had  been  occupied  at  all,  for  only  a  f  ir  shreds  of 
torn  flesh  remained.  About  the  only  thing  that  had 
not  been  demolished  was  a  machine  gun  which  had 
been  protected  by  sand  bags. 

There  was  not  an  instant  to  lose.  Already  a  relief 
might  be  crawling  through  the  communication  tun 
nel,  for  it  must  have  been  evident  to  the  sentinels 
in  the  Hun  trenches  that  the  listening  post  had 
been  demolished.  Numa  hesitated  to  follow  Tarzan 
into  the  excavation ;  but  the  ape-man,  who  was  in  no 
mood  to  temporize,  jerked  him  roughly  to  the  bot 
tom.  Before  them  lay  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  that 
led  back  from  No  Man's  Land  to  the  German 
trenches.  Tarzan  pushed  Numa  forward  until  his 
head  was  almost  in  the  aperture,  then  as  though  it 
was  an  afterthought  he  turned  quickly  and  taking 
the  machine  gun  from  the  parapet  placed  it  in  the 
bottom  of  the  hole  close  at  hand,  after  which  he 
turned  again  to  Numa,  and  with  his  knife  quickly 
cut  the  garters  that  held  the  bags  upon  his  front 
paws.  Before  the  lion  could  know  that  a  part  of 
his  formidable  armament  was  again  released  for 
action,  Tarzan  had  cut  the  rope  from  his  neck  and 
the  head  bag  from  his  face,  and  grabbing  the  lion 
from  the  rear  had  thrust  him  partially  into  the 
month  of  the  tunnel. 

Then  Numa  balked,  only  to  feel  the  sharp  prick  of 
Tarzan's  knife  point  in  his  hind  quarters.  Goading 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  73 

him  on  the  ape-man  finally  succeeded  in  getting  the 
lion  sufficiently  far  into  the  tunnel  so  that  there 
was  no  chance  of  his  escaping  other  than  by  going 
forward  or  deliberately  backing  into  the  sharp  blade 
at  his  rear.  Then  Tarzan  cut  the  bags  from  the 
great  hind  feet,  placed  his  shoulder  and  his  knife 
point  against  Numa's  seat,  dug  his  toes  into  the 
loose  earth  that  had  been  broken  up  by  the  explo 
sion  of  the  bomb,  and  shoved. 

Inch  by  inch  at  first  Numa  advanced.  He  was 
growling  now  and  presently  he  commenced  to  roar. 
Suddenly  he  leaped  forward  and  Tarzan  knew  that 
he  had  caught  the  scent  of  meat  ahead.  Dragging 
the  machine  gun  beside  him  the  ape-man  followed 
quickly  after  the  lion  whose  roars  he  could  plainly 
hear  ahead  mingled  with  the  unmistakable  screams 
of  frightened  men.  Once  again  a  grim  smile  touched 
the  lips  of  this  man-beast. 

"They  murdered  my  Waziri,"  he  muttered; 
"they  crucified  Wasimbu,  son  of  Muviro." 

When  Tarzan  reached  the  trench  and  emerged 
into  it  there  was  no  one  in  sight  in  that  particular 
bay,  nor  in  the  next,  nor  the  next  as  he  hurried  for 
ward  in  the  direction  of  the  German  center;  but  in 
the  fourth  bay  he  saw  a  dozen  men  jammed  in  the 
angle  of  the  traverse  at  the  end  while  leaping  upon 
them  and  rending  with  talons  and  fangs  was  Numa, 
a  terrific  incarnation  of  ferocity  and  ravenous 
hunger. 

Whatever  held  the  men  at  last  gave  way  as  they 
fought  madly  with  one  another  in  their  efforts  to 


74  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

escape  this  dread  creature  that  from  their  infancy 
had  filled  them  with  terror,  and  again  they  were  re 
treating.  Some  clambered  over  the  parados  and 
some  even  over  the  parapet,  preferring  the  dangers 
of  No  Man's  Land  to  this  other  soul-searing  menace. 

As  the  British  advanced  slowly  toward  the  Ger 
man  trenches,  they  first  met  terrified  blacks  who  ran 
into  their  arms  only  too  willing  to  surrender.  That 
pandemonium  had  broken  loose  in  the  Hun  trench 
was  apparent  to  the  Rhodesians  not  only  from  the 
appearance  of  the  deserters ;  but  from  the  sounds 
of  screaming,  cursing  men  which  came  clearly  to 
their  ears ;  but  there  was  one  that  baffled  them  for  it 
resembled  nothing  more  closely  than  the  infuriated 
growling  of  an  angry  lion. 

And  when  at  last  they  reached  the  trench,  those 
farthest  on  the  left  of  the  advancing  Britishers 
heard  a  machine  gun  sputter  suddenly  before  them 
and  saw  a  huge  lion  leap  over  the  German  parados 
with  the  body  of  a  screaming  Hun  soldier  between 
his  jaws  and  vanish  into  the  shadows  of  the  night, 
while  squatting  upon  a  traverse  to  their  left  was 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes  with  a  machine  gun  before  him 
with  which  he  was  raking  the  length  of  the  German 
trenches. 

The  foremost  Rhodesians  saw  something  else — i 
they  saw  a  huge  German  officer  emerge  from  a  dug 
out  just  in  rear  of  the  ape-man.  They  saw  him 
snatch  up  a  discarded  rifle  with  bayonet  fixed  and 
creep  upon  the  apparently  unconscious  Tarzan. 
They  ran  forward,  shouting  warnings;  but  above 


WHEN  THE  LION  FED  75 

the  pandemonium  of  the  trenches  and  the  machine 
gun  their  voices  could  not  reach  him.  The  German 
leaped  upon  the  parapet  behind  him.  —  the  fat  hands 
raised  the  rifle  butt  aloft  for  the  cowardly  downward 
thrust  into  the  naked  back  and  then,  as  moves  Ara, 
the  lightning,  moved  Tarzan  of  the  Apes. 

It  was  no  man  who  leaped  forward  upon  that 
Boche  officer,  striking  aside  the  sharp  bayonet  as 
one  might  strike  aside  a  straw  in  a  baby's  hand — ' 
it  was  a  wild  beast  and  the  roar  of  a  wild  beast 
was  upon  those  savage  lips,  for  as  that  strange  sense 
that  Tarzan  owned  in  common  with  the  other  jungle- 
bred  creatures  of  his  wild  domain  warned  him  of  the 
presence  behind  him  and  he  had  whirled  to  meet 
the  attack,  his  eyes  had  seen  the  corps  and  regi 
mental  insignia  upon  the  other's  blouse  —  it  was  the 
same  as  that  worn  by  the  murderers  of  his  wife  and 
his  people,  by  the  despoilers  of  his  home  and  his 
happiness. 

It  was  a  wild  beast  whose  teeth  fastened  upon  the 
shoulder  of  the  Hun  —  it  was  a  wild  beast  whose 
talons  sought  that  fat  neck.  And  then  the  boys  of 
the  Second  Rhodesian  Regiment  saw  that  which  will 
live  forever  in  their  memories.  They  saw  the  giant 
ape-man  pick  the  heavy  German  from  the  ground 
and  shake  him  as  a  terrier  might  shake  a  rat  —  as 
Sabor,  the  lioness,  sometimes  shakes  her  prey.  They 
saw  the  eyes  of  the  Hun  bulge  in  horror  as  he  vainly 
struck  with  his  futile  hands  against  the  massive 
chest  and  head  of  his  assailant.  They  saw  Tarzan 
suddenly  spin  the  man  about  and  placing  a  knee  in 


76 


the  middle  of  his  back  and  an  arm  about  his  neck 
bend  his  shoulders  slowly  backward.  The  German's 
knees  gave  and  he  sank  upon  them;  but  still  that 
irresistible  force  bent  him  further  and  further.  He 
screamed  in  agony  for  a  moment  —  then  something 
snapped  and  Tarzan  cast  him  aside,  a  limp  and  life 
less  thing. 

The  Rhodesians  started  forward,  a  cheer  upon 
their  lips  —  a  cheer  that  never  was  uttered  —  a  cheer 
that  froze  in  their  throats,  for  at  that  moment  Tar 
zan  placed  a  foot  upon  the  carcass  of  his  kill  and, 
raising  his  face  to  the  heavens,  gave  voice  to  the 
weird  and  terrifying  victory  cry  of  the  bull  ape. 

Unterlieutenant  von  Goss  was  dead. 

Without  a  backward  glance  at  the  awe-struck  sol- 
fliers  Tarzan  leaped  the  trench  and  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET 

THE  little  British  army  in  East  Africa  after 
suffering  severe  reverses  at  the  hands  of  a 
numerically  much  superior  force  was  at  last  coming 
into  its  own.  The  German  offensive  had  been  broken 
and  the  Huns  were  now  slowly  and  doggedly  retreat 
ing  along  the  railway  to  Tanga.  The  break  in  the 
German  lines  had  followed  the  clearing  of  a  section 
of  their  left-flank  trenches  of  native  soldiers  by 
Tarzan  and  Numa,  the  lion,  upon  that  memorable 
night  that  the  ape-man  had  loosed  a  famishing  man- 
eater  among  the  superstitious  and  terror-stricken 
blacks.  The  Second  Rhodesian  Regiment  had  imme 
diately  taken  possession  of  the  abandoned  trench  and 
from  this  position  their  flanking  fire  had  raked  con 
tiguous  sections  of  the  German  line,  the  diversion 
rendering  possible  a  successful  night  attack  on  the 
part  of  the  balance  of  the  British  forces. 

Weeks  had  elapsed.  The  Germans  were  contest 
ing  stubbornly  every  mile  of  waterless,  thorn-cov 
ered  ground  and  clinging  desperately  to  their  posi 
tions  along  the  railway.  The  officers  of  the  Second 
Rhodesians  had  seen  nothing  more  of  Tarzan  of  the 

Apes  since  he  had  slain  Unterlieutenant  von  Goss 

77 


78  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  disappeared  toward  the  very  heart  of  the  Ger 
man  position,  and  there  were  those  among  them  who 
believed  that  he  had  been  killed  within  the  enemy 
lines. 

"They  may  have  killed  him,"  assented  Colonel 
Capell ;  "  but  I  fancy  they  never  captured  the  beggar 
alive." 

Nor  had  they,  nor  killed  him  either.  Tarzan 
had  spent  those  intervening  weeks  pleasantly  and 
profitably.  He  had  amassed  a  considerable  fund  of 
knowledge  concerning  the  disposition  and  strength 
of  German  troops,  their  methods  of  warfare,  and 
the  various  ways  in  which  a  lone  Tarmangani  might 
annoy  an  army  and  lower  its  morale. 

At  present  he  was  prompted  by  a  specific  desire. 
There  was  a  certain  German  spy  whom  he  wished  to 
capture  alive  and  take  back  to  the  British.  When 
he  had  made  his  first  visit  to  German  headquarters 
he  had  seen  a  young  woman  deliver  a  paper  to  the 
German  general  and  later  he  had  seen  that  same 
young  woman  within  the  British  lines  in  the  uniform 
of  a  British  officer.  The  conclusions  were  obvious  — 
she  was  a  spy. 

And  so  Tarzan  haunted  German  headquarters 
upon  many  nights  hoping  to  see  her  again  or  to  pick 
up  some  clew  as  to  her  whereabouts,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  utilized  many  an  artifice  whereby  he  might 
bring  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  Germans.  That  he 
was  successful  was  often  demonstrated  by  the 
snatches  of  conversation  he  overheard  as  he  prowled 
through  the  German  camps.  One  night  as  he  lay 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  79 

concealed  in  the  bushes  close  beside  a  regimental 
headquarters  he  listened  to  the  conversation  of  sev 
eral  Boche  officers.  One  of  the  men  reverted  to  the 
stories  told  by  the  native  troops  in  connection  with 
their  rout  by  a  lion  several  weeks  before  and  the 
simultaneous  appearance  in  their  trenches  of  a 
naked,  white  giant  whom  they  were  perfectly  assured 
was  some  demon  of  the  jungle. 

"The  fellow  must  have  been  the  same  as  he  who 
leaped  into  the  general's  headquarters  and  carried 
off  Schneider,"  asserted  one.  "I  wonder  how  he 
happened  to  single  out  the  poor  major.  They  say 
the  creature  seemed  interested  in  no  one  but 
Schneider.  He  had  von  Kelter  in  his  grasp,  and  he 
might  easily  have  taken  the  general  himself;  but  he 
ignored  them  all  except  Schneider.  Him  he  pursued 
about  the  room,  seized  and  carried  off  into  the  night. 
Gott  knows  what  his  fate  was." 

"  Captain  Fritz  Schneider  has  some  sort  of  the 
ory,"  said  another.  "  He  told  me  only  a  week  or  two 
ago  that  he  thinks  he  knows  why  his  brother  was 
taken  —  that  it  was  a  case  of  mistaken  identity.  He 
was  not  so  sure  about  it  until  von  Goss  was  killed, 
apparently  by  the  same  creature,  the  night  the  lion 
entered  the  trenches.  Von  Goss  was  attached  to 
Schneider's  company.  One  of  Schneider's  men  was 
found  with  his  neck  wrung  the  same  night  that  the 
major  was  carried  off  and  Schneider  thinks  that  this 
devil  is  after  nim  and  his  command  —  that  it  came 
for  him  that  night  and  got  his  brother  by  mistake. 
He  says  Kraut  told  him  that  in  presenting  the  major 


80  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

to  Fraulein  Kircher  the  former's  name  was  no  sooner 
spoken  than  this  wild  man  leaped  through  the  win 
dow  and  made  for  him." 

Suddenly  the  little  group  became  rigid— -listen 
ing.  "What  was  that?"  snapped  one,  eyeing  the 
bushes  from  which  a  smothered  snarl  had  issued  as 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes  realized  that  through  his  mis 
take  the  perpetrator  of  the  horrid  crime  at  his  bun 
galow  still  lived — that  the  murderer  of  his  wife  went 
yet  unpunished. 

For  a  long  minute  the  officers  stood  with  tensed 
nerves,  every  eye  rivetted  upon  the  bushes  from 
whence  the  ominous  sound  had  issued.  Each  recalled 
recent  mysterious  disappearances  from  the  heart  of 
camps  as  well  as  from  lonely  out-guards.  Each 
thought  of  the  silent  dead  he  had  seen,  slain  almost 
within  sight  of  their  fellows  by  some  unseen  creature. 
They  thought  of  the  marks  upon  dead  throats  — 
made  by  talons  or  by  giant  fingers,  they  could  not 
tell  which  —  and  those  upon  shoulders  and  jugulars 
vrhere  powerful  teeth  had  fastened  and  they  waited 
with  drawn  pistols. 

Once  the  bushes  moved  almost  imperceptibly  and 
an  instant  later  one  of  the  officers,  without  warning, 
fired  into  them;  but  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  was  not 
there.  In  the  interval  between  the  moving  of  the 
bushes  and  the  firing  of  the  shot  he  had  melted  into 
the  night.  Ten  minutes  later  he  was  hovering  on  the 
outskirts  of  that  part  of  camp  where  were  biv 
ouacked  for  the  night  the  black  soldiers  of  a  native 
company  commanded  by  one  Hauptmann  Fritz 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  81 

Schneider.  The  men  were  stretched  upon  the  ground 
without  tents;  but  there  were  tents  pitched  for  the 
officers.  Toward  these  Tarzan  crept.  It  was  slo'.r 
and  perilous  work,  as  the  Germans  were  now  upon 
the  alert  for  the  uncanny  foe  that  crept  into  their 
camps  to  take  his  toll  by  night,  yet  the  ape-man 
passed  their  sentinels,  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the 
interior  guard,  and  crept  at  last  to  the  rear  of  the 
officers'  line. 

Here  he  flattened  himself  against  the  ground  close 
behind  the  nearest  tent  and  listened.  From  within 
came  the  regular  breathing  of  a  sleeping  man  —  one 
only.  Tarzan  was  satisfied.  With  his  knife  he  cut 
the  tie  strings  of  the  rear  flap  and  entered.  He 
made  no  noise.  The  shadow  of  a  falling  leaf,  float 
ing  gently  to  earth  upon  a  still  day,  could  have 
been  no  more  soundless.  He  moved  to  the  side  of 
the  sleeping  man  and  bent  low  over  him.  He  could 
not  know,  of  course,  whether  it  was  Schneider  or 
another,  as  he  had  never  seen  Schneider;  but  he 
meant  to  know  and  to  know  even  more. 

Gently  he  shook  the  man  by  the  shoulder.  The 
fellow  turned  heavily  and  grunted  in  a  thick  gut 
tural. 

"  Silence ! "  admonished  the  ape-man  in  a  low  whis 
per.  "Silence  — I  km." 

The  Hun  opened  his  eyes.  In  the  dim  light  he  saw 
a  giant  figure  bending  over  him.  Now  a  mighty 
hand  grasped  his  shoulder  and  another  closed  lightly 
about  his  throat. 

"Make   no    outcry,"    commanded    Tarzan;    "but 


82  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

answer  in  a  whisper  my  questions.  What  is  your 
name  ?  " 

"Luberg,"  replied  the  officer.  He  was  trembling. 
The  weird  presence  of  this  naked  giant  filled  him 
with  dread.  He,  too,  recalled  the  men  mysteriously 
murdered  in  the  still  watches  of  the  night  camps. 
"What  do  you  want?" 

"  Where  is  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  ?  "  asked 
.Tarzan,  "Which  is  his  tent?" 

"  He  is  not  here,"  replied  Luberg.  "  He  was  sent 
to  Wilhelmstal  yesterday." 

"I  shall  not  kill  you  —  now,"  said  the  ape-man. 
"First  I  shall  go  and  learn  if  you  have  lied  to  me 
and  if  you  have  your  death  shall  be  the  more  ter 
rible.  Do  you  know  how  Major  Schneider  died?  " 

Luberg  shook  his  head  negatively. 

"  I  do,"  continued  Tarzan,  "  and  it  was  not  a  nice 
way  to  die  —  even  for  an  accursed  German.  Turn 
over  with  your  face  down  and  cover  your  eyes.  Do 
not  move  or  make  any  sound." 

The  man  did  as  he  was  bid  and  the  instant  that 
his  eyes  were  turned  away,  Tarzan  slipped  from  the 
tent.  An  hour  later  he  was  outside  the  German 
camp  and  headed  for  the  little  hill  town  of  Wil 
helmstal,  the  summer  seat  of  government  of  German 
East  Africa. 

Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher  was  lost.  She  was 
humiliated  and  angry  —  it  was  long  before  she  would 
admit  it,  that  she,  who  prided  herself  upon  her 
woodcraft,  was  lost  in  this  little  patch  of  country 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  83 

between  the  Pangani  and  the  Tanga  railway.  She 
knew  that  Wilhelmstal  lay  southeast  of  her  about 
fifty  miles ;  but,  through  a  combination  of  untoward 
circumstances,  she  found  herself  unable  to  determine 
which  was  southeast. 

In  the  first  place  she  had  set  out  from  German 
headquarters  on  a  well-marked  road  that  was  being 
traveled  by  troops  and  with  every  reason  to  believe 
that  she  would  follow  that  road  to  Wilhelmstal. 
Later  she  had  been  warned  from  this  road  by  word 
that  a  strong  British  patrol  had  come  down  the 
west  bank  of  the  Pangani,  effected  a  crossing  south 
of  her,  and  was  even  then  marching  on  the  railway 
at  Tonda. 

After  leaving  the  road  she  found  herself  in  thick 
bush  and  as  the  sky  was  heavily  overcast  she  pres 
ently  had  recourse  to  her  compass  and  it  was  not 
until  then  that  she  discovered  to  her  dismay  that  she 
did  not  have  it  with  her.  So  sure  was  she  of  her 
woodcraft,  however,  that  she  continued  on  in  the 
direction  she  thought  west  until  she  had  covered  suffi 
cient  distance  to  warrant  her  in  feeling  assured  that 
by  now  turning  south  she  could  pass  safely  in  rear 
of  the  British  patrol. 

Nor  did  she  commence  to  feel  any  doubts  until 
long  after  she  had  again  turned  toward  the  east 
well  south,  as  she  thought,  of  the  patrol.  It  was 
late  afternoon — >she  should  long  since  have  struck 
the  road  again  south  of  Tonda;  but  she  had  found 
no  road  and  now  she  began  to  feel  real  anxiety. 

Her  horse  had  traveled  all  day  without  food  or 


'84  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

water,  night  was  approaching  and  with  it  a  realiza 
tion  that  she  was  hopelessly  lost  in  a  wild  and  track 
less  country  notorious  principally  for  its  tsetse  flies 
and  savage  beasts.  It  was  maddening  to  know  that 
she  had  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  the  direction  she 
was  traveling  —  that  she  might  be  forging  steadily 
further  from  the  railway,  deeper  into  the  gloomy 
and  forbidding  country  toward  the  Pangani;  yet 
it  was  impossible  to  stop  —  she  must  go  on. 

Bertha  Kircher  was  no  coward,  whatever  else  she 
may  have  been;  but  as  night  began  to  close  down 
around  her  she  could  not  shut  out  from  her  mind 
entirely  contemplation  of  the  terrors  of  the  long 
hours  ahead  before  the  rising  sun  should  dissipate 
the  Stygian  gloom  —  the  horrid  jungle  night  —  that 
lures  forth  all  the  prowling,  preying  creatures  of 
destruction. 

She  found,  just  before  dark,  an  open  meadow-like 
break  in  the  almost  interminable  bush.  There  was 
a  small  clump  of  trees  near  the  center  and  here  she 
decided  to  camp.  The  grass  was  high  and  thick 
affording  feed  for  her  horse  and  a  bed  for  herself 
and  there  was  more  than  enough  dead  wood  lying 
about  the  trees  to  furnish  a  good  fire  well  through 
the  night.  Removing  the  saddle  and  bridle  from  her 
mount  she  placed  them  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  and  then 
picketed  the  animal  close  by.  Then  she  busied  her 
self  collecting  firewood  and  by  the  time  darkness  had 
fallen  she  had  a  good  fire  and  enough  wood  to  last 
until  morning. 

From  her  saddlebags  she  took  cold  food  and  from 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  85 

her  canteen  a  swallow  of  water.  She  could  not  afford 
more  than  a  small  swallow  for  she  could  not  know 
how  long  a  time  it  might  be  before  she  should  find 
more.  It  filled  her  with  sorrow  that  her  poor  horse 
must  go  waterless,  for  even  German  spies  may  have 
hearts  and  this  one  was  very  young  and  very 
feminine. 

It  was  now  dark.  There  was  neither  moon  nor 
•stars  and  the  light  from  her  fire  only  accentuated 
the  blackness  beyond.  She  could  see  the  grass  about 
her  and  the  boles  of  the  trees  which  stood  out  in 
brilliant  relief  against  the  solid  background  of  im 
penetrable  night,  and  beyond  the  firelight  there  was 
nothing. 

The  jungle  seemed  ominously  quiet.  Far  away 
in  the  distance  she  heard  faintly  the  boom  of  big 
guns;  but  she  could  not  locate  their  direction.  She 
strained  her  ears  until  her  nerves  were  on  the  point 
of  breaking ;  but  she  could  not  tell  from  whence  the 
sound  came.  And  it  meant  so  much  to  her  to  know, 
for  the  battle  lines  were  north  of  her  and  if  she 
/  could  but  locate  the  direction  of  the  firing  she  would 
know  which  way  to  go  in  the  morning. 

In  the  morning!  Would  she  live  to  see  another 
morning?  She  squared  her  shoulders  and  shook  her 
self  together.  Such  thoughts  must  be  banished — 
they  would  never  do.  Bravely  she  hummed  an  air 
as  she  arranged  her  saddle  near  the  fire  and  pulled 
a  quantity  of  long  grass  to  make  a  comfortable  seat 
over  which  she  spread  her  saddle  blanket.  Then 
she  unstrapped  a  heavy,  military  coat  from  the 


86 


cantle  of  her  saddle  and  donned  it,  for  the  air  was 
already  chill. 

Seating  herself  where  she  could  lean  against  the 
saddle  she  prepared  to  maintain  a  sleepless  vigil 
throughout  the  night.  For  an  hour  the  silence  was 
broken  only  by  the  distant  booming  of  the  guns 
and  the  low  noises  of  the  feeding  horse  and  then, 
from  possibly  a  mile  away,  came  the  rumbling  thun 
der  of  a  lion's  roar.  The  girl  started  and  laid  her 
hand  upon  the  rifle  at  her  side.  A  little  shudder 
ran  through  her  slight  frame  and  she  could  feel  the 
goose  flesh  rise  upon  her  body. 

Again  and  again  was  the  awful  sound  repeated 
and  each  time  she  was  certain  that  it  came  nearer. 
She  could  locate  the  direction  of  this  sound  although 
she  could  not  that  of  the  guns,  for  the  origin  of  the 
former  was  much  closer.  The  lion  was  up  wind  and 
so  could  not  have  caught  her  scent  as  yet,  though 
he  might  be  approaching  to  investigate  the  light  of 
the  fire  which  could  doubtless  be  seen  for  a  con 
siderable  distance. 

For  another  fear-filled  hour  the  girl  sat  straining 
her  eyes  and  ears  out  into  the  black  void  beyond 
her  little  island  of  light.  During  all  that  time  the 
lion  did  not  roar  again;  but  there  was  constantly 
the  sensation  that  it  was  creeping  upon  her.  Again 
and  again  she  would  start  and  turn  to  peer  into  the 
blackness  beyond  the  trees  behind  her  as  her  over 
wrought  nerves  conjured  the  stealthy  fall  of  padded 
feet.  She  held  the  rifle  across  her  knees  at  the 
ready  now  and  she  was  trembling  from  head  to  foot. 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET 


Suddenly  her  horse  raised  his  head  and  snorted, 
and  with  a  little  cry  of  terror  the  girl  sprang  to 
her  feet.  The  animal  turned  and  trotted  back 
toward  her  until  the  picket  rope  brought  him  to  a 
stand,  and  then  he  wheeled  about  and  with  ears 
up-pricked  gazed  out  into  the  night;  but  the  girl 
could  neither  see  nor  hear  aught. 

Still  another  hour  of  terror  passed  during  which 
the  horse  often  raised  his  head  to  peer  long  and 
searchingly  into  the  dark.  The  girl  replenished  the 
fire  from  time  to  time.  She  found  herself  becoming 
very  sleepy.  Her  heavy  lids  persisted  in  drooping; 
but  she  dared  not  sleep.  Fearful  lest  she  might 
be  overcome  by  the  drowsiness  that  was  stealing 
through  her  she  rose  and  walked  briskly  to  and  fro, 
then  she  threw  some  more  wood  on  the  fire,  walked 
over  and  stroked  her  horse's  muzzle  and  returned  to 
her  seat. 

Leaning  against  the  saddle  she  tried  to  occupy 
her  mind  with  plans  for  the  morrow;  but  she  must 
have  dozed.  With  a  start  she  awoke.  It  was  broad 
daylight.  The  hideous  night  with  its  indescribable 
terrors  was  gone. 

She  could  scarce  believe  the  testimony  of  her 
senses.  She  had  slept  for  hours,  the  fire  was  out 
and  yet  she  and  the  horse  were  safe  and  alive,  nor 
was  there  sign  of  savage  beast  about.  And,  best 
of  all,  the  sun  was  shining,  pointing  the  straight 
road  to  the  east.  Hastily  she  ate  a  few  mouthfuls 
of  her  precious  rations,  which  with  a  swallow  of 
water  constituted  her  breakfast.  Then  she  saddled 


88  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

her  horse  and  mounted.  Already  she  felt  that  she 
was  as  good  as  safe  in  Wilhelmstal. 

Possibly,  however,  she  might  have  revised  her  con 
clusions  could  she  have  seen  the  two  pairs  of  eyes 
watching  her  every  move  intently  from  different 
points  in  the  bush. 

Light-hearted  and  unsuspecting  the  girl  rode 
across  the  clearing  toward  the  bush  while  directly 
before  her  two  yellow-green  eyes  glared  round  and 
terrible,  a  tawny  tail  twitched  nervously  and  great, 
padded  paws  gathered  beneath  a  sleek  barrel  for  a 
mighty  spring.  The  horse  was  almost  at  the  edge 
of  the  bush  when  Numa,  the  lion,  launched  himself 
through  the  air.  He  struck  the  animal's  right 
shoulder  at  the  instant  that  it  reared,  terrified,  to 
wheel  in  flight.  The  force  of  the  impact  hurled  the 
horse  backward  to  the  ground  and  so.  quickly  that 
the  girl  had  no  opportunity  to  extricate  herself;  but 
fell  to  the  earth  with  her  mount,  her  left  leg  pinned 
beneath  its  body. 

Horror  stricken,  she  saw  the  king  of  beasts  open 
his  mighty  jaws  and  seize  the  screaming  creature  by 
the  back  of  its  neck.  The  great  jaws  closed,  there 
was  an  instant's  struggle  as  Numa  shook  his  prey. 
She  could  hear  the  vertebrae  crack  as  the  mighty 
fangs  crunched  through  them  and  then  the  muscles 
of  her  faithful  friend  relaxed  in  death. 

Numa  crouched  upon  his  kill.  His  terrifying  eyes 
rivetted  themselves  upon  the  girl's  face  —  she  could 
feel  his  hot  breath  upon  her  cheek  and  the  odor  of 
the  fetid  vapor  nauseated  her.  For  what  seemed  an 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  89 

eternity  to  the  girl  the  two  lay  staring  at  each  other 
and  then  the  lion  uttered  a  menacing  growl. 

Never  before  had  Bertha  Kircher  been  so  terrified 
—  never  before  had  she  had  such  cause  for  terror. 
At  her  hip  was  a  pistol  —  a  formidable  weapon  with 
which  to  face  a  man;  but  a  puny  thing  indeed  with 
which  to  menace  the  great  beast  before  her.  She 
knew  that  at  best  it  could  but  enrage  him  and  yet 
•she  meant  to  sell  her  life  dearly,  for  she  felt  that 
she  must  die.  No  human  succor  could  have  availed 
her  even  had  it  been  there  to  offer  itself.  For  a 
moment  she  tore  her  gaze  from  the  hypnotic  fasci 
nation  of  that  awful  face  and  breathed  a  last  prayer 
to  her  God.  She  did  not  ask  for  aid,  for  she  felt 
that  she  was  beyond  even  divine  succor  —  she  only 
asked  that  the  end  might  come  quickly  and  with 
as  little  pain  as  possible. 

No  one  can  prophesy  what  a  lion  will  do  in  any 
given  emergency.  This  one  glared  and  growled  at 
the  girl  for  a  moment  and  then  fell  to  feeding  upon 
the  dead  horse.  Fraulein  Kircher  wondered  for  an 
instant  and  then  attempted  to  draw  her  leg  cau 
tiously  from  beneath  the  body  of  her  mount;  but 
she  could  not  budge  it.  She  increased  the  force  of 
her  efforts  and  Numa  looked  up  from  his  feeding1  to 
growl  again.  The  girl  desisted.  She  hoped  that 
he  might  satisfy  his  hunger  and  then  depart  to  lie 
up;  but  she  could  not  believe  that  he  would  leave 
her  there  alive.  Doubtless  he  would  drag  the  re 
mains  of  his  kill  into  the  bush  for  hiding  and,  as 
there  could  be  no  doubt  that  he  considered  her  part 


90  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  his  prey,  he  would  certainly  come  back  for  her, 
or  possibly  drag  her  in  first  and  kill  her. 

Again  Numa  fell  to  feeding.  The  girl's  nerves 
were  at  the  breaking  point.  She  wondered  that  she 
had  not  fainted  under  the  strain  of  terror  and  shock 
She  recalled  that  she  often  had  wished  she  mighfc 
see  a  lion,  close  to,  make  a  kill,  and  feed  upon  it. 
God!  how  realistically  her  wish  had  been  granted, 

Again  she  bethought  herself  of  her  pistol.  As 
she  had  fallen  the  holster  had  slipped  around  so  that 
the  weapon  now  lay  beneath  her.  Very  slowly  she 
reached  for  it ;  but  in  so  doing  she  was  forced  to 
raise  her  body  from  the  ground.  Instantly  the  liojv. 
was  aroused.  With  the  swiftness  of  a  cat  he  reached 
across  the  carcass  of  the  horse  and  placed  a  heavy, 
taloned  paw  upon  her  breast,  crushing  her  back  to 
earth,  and  all  the  time  he  growled  and  snarled  hor 
ribly.  His  face  was  a  picture  of  frightful  rage 
incarnate.  For  a  moment  neither  moved  and  then 
from  behind  her  the  girl  heard  a  human  voice  ut 
tering  beastial  sounds. 

Numa  suddenly  looked  up  from  the  girl's  face  at 
the  thing  beyond  her.  His  growls  increased  to  roars 
as  he  drew  back,  ripping  the  front  of  the  girl's  waist 
almost  from  her  body  with  his  long  talons,  exposing 
her  white  bosom,  which  through  some  miracle  of 
chance  the  great  claws  did  not  touch. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  had  witnessed  the  entire  en 
counter  from  the  moment  that  Numa  had  leaped  upon 
his  prey.  For  some  time  before  he  had  been  watch- 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET 91 

ing  the  girl  and  after  the  lion  attacked  her  he  had 
at  first  been  minded  to  let  Numa  have  his  way  with 
her.  What  was  she  but  a  hated  German  and  a  spy 
besides?  He  had  seen  her  at  General  Kraut's  head 
quarters  in  conference  with  the  German  staff  and 
again  he  had  seen  her  within  the  British  lines  mas 
querading  as  a  British  officer.  It  was  the  latter 
thought  that  prompted  him  to  interfere.  Doubtless 
General  Jan  Smuts  would  be  glad  to  meet  and  ques 
tion  her.  She  might  be  forced  to  divulge  informa 
tion  of  value  to  the  British  commander  before  Smuts 
had  her  shot. 

Tarzan  had  recognized  not  only  the  girl,  but  the 
lion  as  well.  All  lions  may  look  alike  to  you  and 
me;  but  not  so  to  their  intimates  of  the  jungle. 
Each  has  his  individual  characteristics  of  face  and 
form  and  gait  as  well  defined  as  those  that  dif 
ferentiate  members  of  the  human  family,  and  be 
sides  these  the  creatures  of  the  jungle  have  a  still 
more  positive  test  —  that  of  scent.  Each  of  us,  man 
or  beast,  has  his  own  peculiar  odor,  and  it  is  mostly 
by  this  that  the  beasts  of  the  jungle,  endowed  with 
miraculous  powers  of  scent,  recognize  individuals. 

It  is  the  final  proof.  You  have  seen  it  demon 
strated  a  thousand  times  —  a  dog  recognizes  your 
voice  and  looks  at  you.  He  knows  your  face  and 
figure.  Good,  there  can  be  no  doubt  in  his  mind 
but  that  it  is  you;  but  is  he  satisfied?  No,  sir  —  he 
must  come  up  and  smell  of  you.  All  his  other  senses 
may  be  fallible;  but  not  his  sense  of  smell,  and  so 
he  makes  assurance  positive  by  the  final  test. 


93  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tarzan  recognized  Numa  as  he  whom  he  had 
muzzled  with  the  hide  of  Horta,  the  boar — as  he 
whom  he  handled  by  a  rope  for  two  days  and  finally 
loosed  in  a  German  front-line  trench,  and  he  knew 
that  Numa  would  recognize  him  —  that  he  would 
remember  the  sharp  spear  that  had  goaded  him  into 
submission  and  obedience  and  Tarzan  hoped  that 
the  lesson  he  had  learned  still  remained  with  the 
lion. 

Now  he  came  forward  calling  to  Numa  in  the  lan 
guage  of  the  great  apes — warning  him  away  from 
the  girl.  It  is  open  to  question  that  Numa,  the  lion, 
understood  him;  but  he  did  understand  the  menace 
of  the  heavy  spear  that  the  Tarmangani  carried  so 
ready  in  his  brown,  right  hand,  and  so  he  drew  back, 
growling,  trying  to  decide  in  his  little  brain  whether 
to  charge  or  flee. 

On  came  the  ape-man  with  never  a  pause,  straight 
for  the  lion.  "Go  away,  Numa,"  he  cried,  "or 
Tarzan  will  tie  you  up  again  and  lead  you  through 
the  jungle  without  food.  See  Arad,  my  spear!  Do 
you  recall  how  his  point  stuck  into  you  and  how  with 
his  haft  I  beat  you  over  the  head?  Go,  Numa!  I 
am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes ! " 

Numa  wrinkled  the  skin  of  his  face  into  great 
folds,  until  his  eyes  almost  disappeared  and  he 
growled  and  roared  and  snarled  and  growled  again, 
and  when  the  spear  point  came  at  last  quite  close 
to  him  he  struck  at  it  viciously  with  his  armed  paw ; 
but  he  drew  back.  Tarzan  stepped  over  the  dead 
horse  and  the  girl  lying  behind  him  gazed  in  wide- 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET 


<yed  Astonishment  at  the  handsome  figure  driving  an 
$ngry  Jioti  deliberately  from  its  kill. 

When  Nwift  had  retreated  a  few  yards,  the  ape- 
man  called  back  to  the  girl  in  perfect  German,  "Are 
you  badly  hurt?" 

"I  think  not,"  she  replied;  "but  I  cannot  extri 
cate  my  foot  fro^a  beneath  my  horse." 

"Try  again,"  commanded  Tarzan.  "I  do  not 
know  how  long  I  -ran  hold  Numa  thus." 

The  girl  struggled  frantically;  but  at  last  she 
sank  back  upon  an  elbow. 

"It  is  impossible,"  she  called  to  him. 

He  backed  slowly  until  he  was  again  beside  the 
horse,  when  he  reached  down  and  grasped  the  cinch, 
which  was  still  intact.  Then  with  one  hand  he  raised 
the  carcass  from  the  ground.  The  girl  freed  her 
self  and  rose  to  her  feet. 

"You  can  walk?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"Yes,"  she  said;  "my  leg  is  numb;  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  be  injured." 

"Good,"  commented  the  ape-man.  "Back  slowly 
away  behind  me  —  make  no  sudden  movements.  I 
think  he  will  not  charge." 

With  utmost  deliberation  the  two  backed  toward 
the  bush.  Numa  stood  for  a  moment,  growling,  then 
he  followed  them,  slowly.  Tarzan  wondered  if  he 
would  come  beyond  his  kill  or  if  he  would  stop  there. 
If  he  followed  them  beyond,  then  they  could  look 
for  a  charge,  and  if  Numa  charged  it  was  very  likely, 
that  he  would  get  one  of  them.  When  the  lion 
reached  the  carcass  of  the  horse  Tarzan  stopped 


94  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  so  did  Numa,  as  Tarzan  had  thought  that  ha 
would  and  the  ape-man  waited  to  see  what  the  lion 
would  do  next.  He  eyed  them  for  a  moment,  snarled 
angrily  and  then  looked  down  at  the  tempting  meat. 
Presently  he  crouched  upon  his  kill  and  resumed 
feeding. 

The  girl  breathed  a  deep  sigh  of  relief  as  she  and 
the  ape-man  resumed  their  slow  retreat  with  only 
an  occasional  glance  from  the  lion,  and  when  at  last 
they  reached  the  bush  and  had  turned  and  entered 
it,  she  felt  a  sudden  giddiness  overwhelm  her  so  that 
she  staggered  and  would  have  fallen  had  Tarzan  not 
caught  her.  It  was  only  a  moment  before  she  re 
gained  control  of  herself. 

"I  could  not  help  it,"  she  said,  in  half  apology. 
"I  was  so  close  to  death  —  such  a  horrible  death  — 
it  unnerved  me  for  an  instant;  but  I  am  all  right 
now.  How  can  I  ever  thank  you?  It  was  so  won 
derful  —  you  did  not  seem  to  fear  the  frightful  crea 
ture  in  the  least;  yet  he  was  afraid  of  you.  Who 
are  you?" 

"He  knows  me,"  replied  Tarzan,  grimly  —  "that 
is  why  he  fears  me." 

He  was  standing  facing  the  girl  now  and  for  the 
first  time  he  had  a  chance  to  look  at  her  squarely 
and  closely.  She  was  very  beautiful  —  that  was  un 
deniable;  but  Tarzan  realized  her  beauty  only  in  a 
subconscious  way.  It  was  superficial  —  it  did  not 
color  her  soul  which  must  be  black  as  sin.  She  was 
German  —  a  German  spy.  He  hated  her  and  de~ 
sired  only  to  compass  her  destruction ;  but  he  would 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  95 

choose  the  manner  so  that  it  would  work  most 
grievously  against  the  enemy  cause. 

He  saw  her  naked  breasts  where  Numa  had  torn 
her  clothing  from  her  and  dangling  there  against 
the  soft,  white  flesh  he  saw  that  which  brought  a 
sudden  scowl  of  surprise  and  anger  to  his  face  — 
the  diamond-studded,  golden  locket  of  his  youth — 
the  love  token  that  had  been  stolen  from  the  breast 
of  his  mate  by  Schneider,  the  Hun.  The  girl  saw 
the  scowl  but  did  not  interpret  it  correctly.  Tarzan 
grasped  her  roughly  by  the  arm. 

"  Where  did  you  get  this  ?  "  he  demanded,  as  he 
tore  the  bauble  from  her. 

The  girl  drew  herself  to  her  full  height.  "Take 
your  hand  from  me,"  she  demanded,  but  the  ape- 
man  paid  no  attention  to  her  words,  only  seizing  her 
more  forcibly. 

"Answer  me ! "  he  snapped.  "  Where  did  you  get 
this?" 

"  What  is  it  to  you  ?  "  she  countered. 

"It  is  mine,"  he  replied.  "Tell  me  who  gave  it 
to  you  or  I  will  throw  you  back  to  Numa." 

"You  would  do  that?"  she  asked. 

"Why  not?"  he  queried.  "You  are  a  spy  and 
spies  must  die  if  they  are  caught." 

"You  were  going  to  kill  me,  then?" 

"  I  was  going  to  take  you  to  headquarters.  They 
would  dispose  of  you  there;  but  Numa  can  do  it 
quite  as  effectively.  Which  do  you  prefer?" 

"  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  gave  it  to  me,"  she 
said. 


96  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"Headquarters  it  will  be  then,"  said  Tarzan. 
"Come!" 

The  girl  moved  at  his  side  through  the  bush  and 
all  the  time  her  mind  worked  quickly.  They  were 
moving  east,  which  suited  her,  and  as  long  as  they 
continued  to  move  ea*t  she  was  glad  to  have  the 
protection  of  the  great,  white  savage.  She  specu 
lated  much  upon  the  fact  that  her  pistol  still  swung 
at  her  hip.  The  man  must  be  mad  not  to  take  it 
from  her. 

"What  makes  you  think  I  am  a  spy?"  she  asked 
after  a  long  silence. 

"  I  saw  you  at  German  headquarters,"  he  replied, 
"and  then  again  inside  the  British  lines." 

She  could  not  let  him  take  her  back  to  them. 
She  must  reach  Wilhelmstal  at  once  and  she  was  de 
termined  to  do  so  even  if  she  must  have  recourse  to 
her  pistol.  She  cast  a  side  glance  at  the  tall  figure. 
What  a  magnificent  creature!  But  yet  he  was  a 
brute  who  would  kill  her  or  have  her  killed  if  she 
did  not  slay  him.  And  the  locket!  She  must  have 
that  back  —  it  must  not  fail  to  reach  Wilhelmstal. 
Tarzan  was  now  a  foot  or  two  ahead  of  her  as  the 
path  was  very  narrow.  Cautiously  she  drew  her 
pistol.  A  single  shot  would  suffice  and  he  was  S6. 
close  that  she  could  not  miss.  As  she  figured  it  all 
out  her  eyes  rested  on  the  brown  skin  with  the  grace 
ful  muscles  rolling  beneath  it  and  the  perfect  lirabs 
and  head  and  the  carriage  that  a  proud  king  of  old 
might  have  envied. 
.-  A  wave  of  revulsion  for  her  contemplated  net 


THE  GOLDEN  LOCKET  97 

surged  through  her.  No,  she  could  not  do  it — jet, 
she  must  be  free  and  she  must  regain  possession  of 
the  locket.  And  then,  almost  blindly,  she  swung  the 
weapon  up  and  struck  Tarzan  heavily  upon  the  back 
of  the  head  with  its  butt.  Like  a  felled  ox  he 
dropped  in  his  tracks. 


CHAPTER  VI 

VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY 


M'T  WAS  an  hour  later  that  Sheeta,  the  panther, 


I 


hunting,  chanced  to  glance  upward  into  the  blue 
sky  where  his  attention  was  attracted  by  Ska,  the 
vulture,  circling  slowly  above  the  bush  a  mile  away 
and  down  wind.  For  a  long  minute  the  yellow -eyes 
stared  intently  at  the  gruesome  bird.  They  saw 
Ska  dive  and  rise  again  to  continue  his  ominous 
circling  and  in  these  movements  their  woodcraft  read 
that  which,  while  obvious  to  Sheeta,  would  doubtless 
have  meant  nothing  to  you  or  me. 

The  hunting  cat  guessed  that  on  the  ground  be 
neath  Ska  was  some  living  thing  of  flesh  —  either 
a  beast  feeding  upon  its  kill  or  a  dying  animal  that 
Ska  did  not  yet  dare  attack.  In  either  event  it 
might  prove  meat  for  Sheeta  and  so  the  wary  feline 
stalked  by  a  circuitous  route,  upon  soft,  padded  feet 
that  gave  forth  no  sound,  until  the  circling  aasvogel 
and  his  intended  prey  were  up  wind.  Then,  sniffing 
each  vagrant  zephyr,  Sheeta,  the  panther,  crept  cau 
tiously  forward,  nor  had  he  advanced  any  consider 
able  distance  before  his  keen  nostrils  were  rewarded 
with  the  scent  of  man  —  a  Tarmangani. 

Sheeta  paused.     He  was  not  a  hunter  of  men. 
98 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  99 

He  was  young  and  in  his  prime;  but  always  before 
he  had  avoided  this  hated  presence.  Of  late  he  had 
become  more  accustomed  to  it  with  the  passing  of 
many  soldiers  through  his  ancient  hunting  ground, 
and  as  the  soldiers  had  frightened  away  a  great  part 
of  the  game  Sheeta  had  been  wont  to  feed  upon,  the 
days  had  been  lean,  and  Sheeta  was  hungry. 

The  circling  Ska  suggested  that  this  Tarmangani 
might  be  helpless  and  upon  the  point  of  dying,  else 
Ska  would  not  have  been  interested  in  him,  and  so 
easy  prey  for  Sheeta.  With  this  thought  in  mind 
the  cat  resumed  his  stalking.  Presently  he  pushed 
through  the  thick  bush  and  his  yellow-green  eyes 
rested  gloatingly  upon  the  body  of  an  almost  naked 
Tarmangani  lying  face  down  in  a  narrow  game  trail. 

Numa,  sated,  rose  from  the  carcass  of  Bertha 
Kircher's  horse,  seized  the  partially  devoured  body 
by  the  neck  and  dragged  it  into  the  bush,  then  he 
started  east  toward  the  lair  where  he  had  left  his 
mate.  Being  uncomfortably  full  he  was  very  com 
fortable  and  inclined  to  be  sleepy  and  far  from 
belligerent.  He  moved  slowly  and  majestically  with 
no  effort  at  silence  or  concealment.  The  king  walked 
abroad,  unafraid. 

With  an  occasional  regal  glance  to  right  or  left 
he  moved  along  a  narrow  game  trail  until  at  a 
turn  he  came  to  a  sudden  stop  at  what  lay  revealed 
before  him — Sheeta,  the  panther,  creeping  stealthily 
upon  the  almost  naked  body  of  a  Tarmangani  lying 
face  down  in  the  deep  dust  of  the  pathway.  Numa 


100  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

glared  intently  at  the  quiet  body  in  the  dust.  Recog 
nition  came.  It  was  his  Tarmangani.  A  low  growl 
of  warning  rumbled  from  his  throat  and  Sheeta 
halted  with  one  paw  upon  Tarzan's  back  and  turned 
suddenly  to  eye  the  intruder. 

What  passed  within  those  savage  brains?  Who 
may  say?  The  panther  seemed  debating  the  wisdom 
of  defending  his  find,  for  he  growled  horribly  as 
though  warning  Numa  away  from  the  prey.  And 
Numa?  Was  the  idea  of  property  rights  dominat 
ing  his  thoughts?  The  Tarmangani  was  his,  or  he 
was  the  Tarmangani's.  Had  not  the  Great  White 
Ape  mastered  and  subdued  him  and,  too,  had  he 
not  fed  him?  Numa  recalled  the  fear  that  he  had 
felt  of  this  man-thing  and  his  cruel  spear;  but  in 
savage  brains  fear  is  more  likely  to  engender  respect 
than  hatred  and  so  Numa  found  that  he  respected 
the  creature  who  had  subdued  and  mastered  him. 
He  saw  Sheeta,  upon  whom  he  looked  with  contempt, 
daring  to  molest  the  master  of  the  lion.  Jealousy 
and  greed  alone  might  have  been  sufficient  to  prompt 
Numa  to  drive  Sheeta  away,  even  though  the  lion 
was  not  sufficiently  hungry  to  devour  the  flesh  that 
he  thus  wrested  from  the  lesser  cat;  but  then,  too, 
there  was  in  the  little  brain  within  the  massive  head 
a  sense  of  loyalty,  and  perhaps  this  it  was  that  sent 
Numa  quickly  forward,  growling,  toward  the  spit 
ting  Sheeta. 

For  a  moment  the  latter  stood  his  ground  with 
arched  back  and  snarling  face,  for  all  the  world 
like  a  great,  spotted  tabby. 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  101 

Nuraa  had  not  felt  like  fighting;  but  the  sight  of 
Sheeta  daring  to  dispute  his  rights  kindled  his  fe 
rocious  brain  to  sudden  fire.  His  rounded  eyes 
glared  with  rage,  his  undulating  tail  snapped  to  stiff 
erectness  as,  with  a  frightful  roar,  he  charged  this 
presuming  vassal. 

It  came  so  suddenly  and  from  so  short  a  distance 
that  Sheeta  had  no  chance  to  turn  and  flee  the 
rush,  and  so  he  met  it  with  raking  talons  and  snap 
ping  jaws;  but  the  odds  were  all  against  him.  To 
the  larger  fangs  and  the  more  powerful  jaws  of  his 
adversary  were  added  huge  talons  and  the  prepon 
derance  of  the  lion's  great  weight.  At  the  first 
clash  Sheeta  was  crushed  and,  though  he  deliberately 
fell  upon  his  back  and  drew  up  his  powerful  hind 
legs  beneath  Numa  with  the  intention  of  disem 
boweling  him,  the  lion  forestalled  him  and  at  the  same 
time  closed  his  awful  jaws  upon  Sheeta's  throat. 

It  was  soon  over.  Numa  rose,  shaking  himself, 
and  stood  above  the  torn  and  mutilated  body  of  his 
foe.  His  own  sleek  coat  was  cut  and  the  red  blood 
trickled  down  his  flank;  though  it  was  but  a  minor 
injury,  it  angered  him.  He  glared  down  at  the 
dead  panther  and  then,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  he  seized  and 
mauled  the  body  only  to  drop  it  in  a  moment,  lower 
his  head,  voice  a  single  terrific  roar,  and  turn  toward 
the  ape-man. 

Approaching  the  still  form  he  sniffed  it  over  from 
head  to  foot.  Then  he  placed  a  huge  paw  upon  it 
and  turned  it  over  with  its  face  up.  Again  he 
smelled  about  the  body  and  at  last  with  his  rough 


102  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

tongue  licked  Tarzan's  face.  It  was  then  that  Tar- 
zan  opened  his  eyes. 

Above  him  towered  the  huge  lion,  its  hot  breath 
upon  his  face,  its  rough  tongue  upon  his  cheek.  The 
ape-man  had  often  been  close  to  death;  but  never 
before  so  close  as  this,  he  thought,  for  he  was  con 
vinced  that  death  was  but  a  matter  of  seconds.  His 
brain  was  still  numb  from  the  effects  of  the  blow 
that  had  felled  him  and  so  he  did  not,  for  a  moment, 
recognize  the  lion  that  stood  over  him  as  the  one  he 
had  so  recently  encountered. 

Presently,  however,  recognition  dawned  upon  him 
and  with  it  a  realization  of  the  astounding  fact  that 
Numa  did  not  seem  bent  on  devouring  him  —  at  least 
not  immediately.  His  position  was  a  delicate  one. 
The  lion  stood  astmddle  Tarzan  w^th  his  front 
paws.  The  ape-man  could  not  rise,  therefore,  with 
out  pushing  the  lion  away  and  whether  Numa  would 
tolerate  being  pushed  was  an  open  question.  Too, 
the  beast  might  consider  him  already  dead  and  any 
movement  that  indicated  the  contrary  was  true 
would,  in  all  likelihood,  arouse  the  killing  instinct  of 
the  man-eater. 

But  Tarzan  was  tiring  of  the  situation.  He  was 
in  no  mood  to  lie  there  forever,  especially  when  he 
contemplated  the  fact  that  the  girl  spy  who  had 
tried  to  brain  him  was  undoubtedly  escaping  as 
rapidly  as  possible. 

Numa  was  looking  right  into  his  eyes  now  evi 
dently  aware  that  he  was  alive.  Presently  the  lion 
cocked  his  head  on  one  side  and  whined.  Tarzan 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  103 

knew  the  note,  and  he  knew  that  it  spelled  neither 
rage  nor  hunger,  and  then  he  risked  all  on  a  single 
throw,  encouraged  by  that  low  whine. 

"  Move,  Numa ! "  he  commanded  and  placing  a  palm 
against  the  tawny  shoulder  he  pushed  the  lion  aside. 
Then  he  rose  and  with  a  hand  on  his  hunting  knife 
awaited  that  which  might  follow.  It  was  then  that 
his  eyes  fell  for  the  first  time  on  the  torn  body  of 
Sheeta.  He  looked  from  the  dead  cat  to  the  live 
one  and  saw  the  marks  of  conflict  upon  the  latter, 
too,  and  in  an  instant  realized  something  of  what 
had  happened — 'Numa  had  saved  him  from  the 
panther ! 

It  seemed  incredible  and  yet  the  evidence  pointed 
clearly  to  the  fact.  He  turned  toward  the  lion  and 
without  fear  approached  and  examined  his  wounds 
which  he  found  superficial,  and  as  Tarzan  knelt  be 
side  him  Numa  rubbed  an  itching  ear  against  the 
naked,  brown  shoulder.  Then  the  ape-man  stroked 
the  great  head,  picked  up  his  spear,  and  looked  about 
for  the  trail  of  the  girl.  This  he  soon  found  leading 
toward  the  east,  and  as  he  set  out  upon  it  some 
thing  prompted  him  to  feel  for  the  locket  he  had 
hung  about  his  neck.  It  was  gone! 

No  trace  of  anger  was  apparent  upon  the  ape- 
man's  face  unless  it  was  a  slight  tightening  of  the 
jaws;  but  he  put  his  hand  ruefully  to  the  back  of 
his  head  where  a  bump  marked  the  place  where  the 
girl  had  struck  him  and  a  moment  later  a  half-smile 
played  across  his  lips.  He  could  not  help  but  admit 
that  she  had  tricked  him  neatly,  and  that  it  must 


104  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

have  taken  nerve  to  do  the  thing  she  did  and  to  set 
out  armed  only  with  a  pistol  through  the  trackless 
waste  that  lay  between  them  and  the  railway  and 
beyond  into  the  hills  where  Wilhelmstal  lies. 

Tarzan  admired  courage.  He  was  big  enough  to 
admit  it  and  admire  it  even  in  a  German  spy  but 
he  saw  that  in  this  case,  it  only  added  to  her  re 
sourcefulness  and  made  her  all  the  more  dangerous 
and  the  necessity  for  putting  her  out  of  the  way 
paramount.  He  hoped  to  overtake  her  before  she 
reached  Wilhelmstal  and  so  he  set  out  at  the  swing 
ing  trot  that  he  could  hold  for  hours  at  a  stretch 
without  apparent  fatigue. 

That  the  girl  could  hope  to  reach  the  town  on  foot 
in  less  than  two  days  seemed  improbable,  for  it  was 
a  good  thirty  miles  and  part  of  it  hilly.  Even  as 
the  thought  crossed  his  mind  he  heard  the  whistle 
of  a  locomotive  to  the  east  and  knew  that  the  rail 
way  was  in  operation  again  after  a  shutdown  of 
several  days.  If  the  train  was  going  south  the  girl 
would  signal  it  if  she  had  reached  the  right  of  way. 
His  keen  ears  caught  the  whining  of  brake  shoes  on 
wheels  and  a  few  minutes  later  the  signal  blast  for 
brakes  off.  The  train  had  stopped  and  started 
again  and,  as  it  gained  headway  and  greater  dis 
tance,  Tarzan  could  tell  from  the  direction  of  the 
sound  that  it  was  moving  south. 

The  ape-man  followed  the  trail  to  the  railway 
where  it  ended  abruptly  on  the  west  side  of  the  track 
showing  that  the  girl  had  boarded  the  train,  just 
as  he  thought.  There  was  nothing  now  but  to  follow 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  105 

on  to  Wilhelmstal,  where  he  hoped  to  find  Captain 
Fritz  Schneider,  as  well  as  the  girl,  and  to  recover 
his  diamond-studded  locket. 

It  was  dark  when  Tarzan  reached  the  little*  hill 
town  of  Wilhelmstal.  He  loitered  on  the  outskirts, 
getting  his  bearings  and  trying  to  determine  how 
an  almost  naked  white  man  might  explore  the  village 
without  arousing  suspicion.  There  were  many  sol 
diers  about  and  the  town  was  under  guard,  for  he 
could  see  a  lone  sentinel  walking  his  post  scarce  a 
hundred  yards  from  him.  To  elude  this  one  would 
not  be  difficult;  but  to  enter  the  village  and  search 
it  would  be  practically  impossible,  garbed,  or  un- 
garbed,  as  he  was. 

Creeping  forward,  taking  advantage  of  every 
cover,  lying  flat  and  motionless  when  the  sentry's 
face  was  toward  him,  the  ape-man  at  last  reached 
the  sheltering  shadows  of  an  outhouse  just  inside 
the  lines.  From  there  he  moved  •  stealthily  from 
building  to  building  until  at  last  he  was  discovered 
by  a  large  dog  in  the  rear  of  one  of  the  bungalows. 
The  brute  came  slowly  toward  him,  growling.  Tar 
zan  stood  motionless  beside  a  tree.  He  could  see  a 
light  in  the  bungalow  and  uniformed  men  moving 
about  and  he  hoped  that  the  dog  would  not  bark. 
He  did  not;  but  he  growled  more  savagely  and,  just 
at  the  moment  that  the  rear  door  of  the  bungalow 
opened  and  a  man  stepped  out,  the  animal  charged. 

He  was  a  large  dog,  as  large  as  Dango,  the  hyena, 
and  he  charged  with  all  the  vicious  impetuosity  of 
Numa,  the  lion.  As  he  came  Tarzan  knelt  and  the 


106  TAEZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

dog  shot  through  the  air  for  his  throat;  but  he 
was  dealing  with  no  man  now  and  he  found  his  quick 
ness  more  than  matched  by  the  quickness  of  the  Tar- 
mangani.  His  teeth  never  reached  the  soft  flesh  — 
strong  fingers,  fingers  of  steel,  seized  his  neck.  He 
voiced  a  single  startled  yelp  and  clawed  at  the  naked 
breast  before  him  with  his  talons ;  but  he  was  power 
less.  The  mighty  fingers  closed  upon  his  throat; 
the  man  rose,  snapped  the  clawing  body  once,  and 
*?ast  it  aside.  At  the  same  time  a  voice  from  the 
open  bungalow  door  called :  "  Simba ! " 

There  was  no  response.  Repeating  the  call  the 
man  descended  the  steps  and  advanced  toward  the 
tree.  In  the  light  from  the  doorway  Tarzan  could 
see  that  he  was  a  tall,  broad-shouldered  man  in  the 
uniform  of  a  German  officer.  The  ape-man  withdrew 
into  the  shadow  of  the  tree's  stem.  The  man  came 
closer,  still  calling  the  dog  —  he  did  not  see  the 
savage  beast,  crouching  now  in  the  shadow,  awaiting 
him.  When  he  had  approached  within  ten  feet  of 
the  Tarmangani,  Tarzan  leaped  upon  him  —  as 
Sabor  springs  to  the  kill,  so  sprang  the  ape-man. 
The  momentum  and  weight  of  his  body  hurled  the 
German  to  the  ground,  powerful  fingers  prevented  an 
outcry  and,  though  the  officer  struggled,  he  had  no 
chance  and  a  moment  later  lay  dead  beside  the  body 
of  the  dog. 

As  Tarzan  stood  for  a  moment  looking  down  upon 
his  kill  and  regretting  that  he  could  not  risk  voicing 
his  beloved  victory  cry,  the  sight  of  the  uniform 
suggested  a  means  whereby  he  might  pass  to  and 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  107 

fro  through  Wilhelmstal  with  the  minimum  chance 
of  detection.  Ten  minutes  later  a  tall,  broad- 
shouldered  officer  stepped  from  the  yard  of  the 
bungalow  leaving  behind  him  the  corpses  of  a  dog 
and  a  naked  man. 

He  walked  boldly  along  the  little  street  and  those 
who  passed  him  could  not  guess  that  beneath  Im 
perial  Germany's  uniform  beat  a  savage  heart  that 
pulsed  with  implacable  hatred  for  the  Hun.  Tar- 
zan's  first  concern  was  to  locate  the  hotel  for  here 
he  guessed  he  would  find  the  girl,  and  where  the 
girl  was  doubtless  would  be  Hauptmann  Fritz 
Schneider  who  was  either  her  confederate,  her  sweet 
heart,  or  both,  and  there,  too,  would  be  Tarzan's 
precious  locket. 

He  found  the  hotel  at  last,  a  low,  two-storied 
building  with  a  veranda.  There  were  lights  on  both 
floors  and  people,  mostly  officers  could  be  seen  within. 
The  ape-man  considered  entering  and  inquiring  for 
those  he  sought;  but  his  better  judgment  finally 
prompted  him  to  reconnoiter  first.  Passing  around 
the  building  he  looked  into  all  the  lighted  rooms  on 
the  first  floor  and,  seeing  neither  of  those  for  whom 
he  had  come,  he  swung  lightly  to  the  roof  of  the 
veranda  and  continued  his  investigations  through 
windows  of  the  second  story. 

At  one  corner  of  the  hotel  in  a  rear  room  the 
blinds  were  drawn ;  but  he  heard  voices  within  and 
once  he  saw  a  figure  silhouetted  momentarily  against 
the  blind.  It  appeared  to  be  the  figure  of  a  woman ; 
but  it  was  gone  so  quickly  that  he  could  not  be  sure. 


108  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

fTarzan  crept  close  to  the  window  and  listened.  Yes, 
there  was  a  woman  there  and  a  man  —  he  heard 
distinctly  the  tones  of  their  voices  although  he  could 
overhear  no  words  as  they  seemed  to  be  whispering. 

The  adjoining  room  was  dark.  Tarzan  tried  the 
window  and  found  it  unlatched.  All  was  quiet 
within.  He  raised  the  sash  and  listened  again  — 
still  silence.  Placing  a  leg  over  the  sill  he  slipped 
within  and  hurriedly  glanced  about.  The  room  was 
vacant.  Crossing  to  the  door  he  opened  it  and 
looked  out  into  the  hall.  There  was  no  one  there, 
either,  and  he  stepped  out  and  approached  the  door 
of  the  adjoining  room  where  the  man  and  woman 
were. 

Pressing  close  to  the  door  he  listened.  Now  he 
distinguished  words,  for  the  two  had  raised  their 
voices  as  though  in  argument.  The  woman  was 
speaking. 

"  I  have  brought  the  locket,"  she  said,  "  as  was 
agreed  upon  between  you  and  General  Kraut,  as 
my  identification.  I  carry  no  other  credentials. 
This  was  to  be  enough.  You  have  nothing  to  do 
but  give  me  the  papers  and  let  me  go." 

The  man  replied  in  so  low  a  tone  that  Tarzan 
could  not  catch  the  words  and  then  the  woman  spoke 
again  —  a  note  of  scorn  and  perhaps  a  little  of  fear 
in  her  voice. 

"You  would  not  dare,  Hauptmann  Schneider," 
she  said,  and  then :  "  Do  not  touch  me !  Take  your 
hands  from  me ! " 

It  was  then  that  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  opened  the 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  109 

door  and  stepped  into  the  room.  What  he  saw  was 
a  huge,  bull-necked  German  officer  with  one  arm 
about  the  waist  of  Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher  and  a 
hand  upon  her  foiohead  pushing  her  head  back  as 
he  tried  to  kiss  her  on  the  mouth.  The  girl  was 
struggling  against  the  great  brute;  but  her  efforts 
were  futile.  Slowly  the  man's  lips  were  coming  closer 
to  hers  and  slowly,  step  by  step,  she  was  being  car 
ried  backward. 

Schneider  heard  the  noise  of  the  opening  and 
closing  door  behind  him  and  turned.  At  sight  of 
this  strange  officer  he  dropped  the  girl  and 
straightened  up. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  this  intrusion,  Lieu 
tenant  ?  "  he  demanded,  noting  the  other's  epaulettes. 
"  Leave  the  room  at  once." 

Tarzan  made  no  articulate  reply;  but  the  two 
there  with  him  heard  a  low  growl  break  from  those 
firm  lips  —  a  growl  that  sent  a  shudder  through  the 
frame  of  the  girl  and  brought  a  pallor  to  the  red 
face  of  the  Hun  and  his  hand  to  his  pistol ;  but  even 
as  he  drew  his  weapon  it  was  wrested  from  him  and 
hurled  through  the  blind  and  window  to  the  yard 
beyond. 

Then  Tarzan  backed  against  the  door  and  slowly 
removed  the  uniform  coat. 

"You  are  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider,"  he  said 
to  the  German. 

"What  of  it?"  growled  the  latter. 

"  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,"  replied  the  ape-man. 
"  Now  you  know  why  I  intrude." 


110  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

The  two  before  him  saw  that  he  was  naked  be 
neath  the  coat  which  he  threw  upon  the  floor  and 
then  he  slipped  quickly  from  the  trousers  and  stood 
there  clothed  only  in  his  loin  cloth.  The  girl  had 
recognized  him  by  this  time,  too. 

"  Take  your  hand  off  that  pistol,"  Tarzan  admon 
ished  her.  Her  hand  dropped  at  her  side.  "Now 
come  here ! " 

She  approached  and  Tarzan  removed  the  weapon 
and  hurled  it  after  the  other.  At  the  mention  of  his 
name  Tarzan  had  noted  the  sickly  pallor  that  over 
spread  the  features  of  the  Hun.  At  last  he  had 
found  the  right  man.  At  last  his  mate  would  be 
partially  avenged  —  never  could  she  be  entirely 
avenged.  Life  was  too  short  and  there  were  too 
many  Germans. 

"What  do  you  want  of  me?  "  demanded  Schneider. 

"You  are  going  to  pay  the  price  for  the  thing 
you  did  at  the  little  bungalow  in  the  Waziri  coun 
try,"  replied  the  ape-man. 

Schneider  commenced  to  bluster  and  threaten. 
Tarzan  turned  the  key  in  the  lock  of  the  door  and 
hurled  the  former  through  the  window  after  the 
pistols.  Then  he  turned  to  the  girl.  "Keep  out 
of  the  way,"  he  said  in  a  low  voice.  "Tarzan  of 
the  Apes  is  going  to  kill." 

The  Hun  ceased  blustering  and  began  to  plead. 
"  I  have  a  wife  and  children  at  home,"  he  cried.  "  I 
have  done  nothing.  I " 

"You  are  going  to  die  as  befits  your  kind,"  said 
Tarzan,  "with  blood  on  your  hands  and  a  lie  on 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  111 

your  lips."  He  started  across  the  room  toward  the 
burly  Hauptmann.  Schneider  was  a  large  and  pow 
erful  man  —  about  the  height  of  the  ape-man  but 
much  heavier.  He  saw  that  neither  threats  nor  pleas 
would  avail  him  and  so  he  prepared  to  fight  as  a 
cornered  rat  fights  for  its  life  with  all  the  maniacal 
rage,  cunning,  and  ferocity  that  the  first  law  of 
nature  imparts  to  many  beasts. 

Lowering  his  bull  head  he  charged  for  the  ape- 
man  and  in  the  center  of  the  floor  the  two  clinched. 
There  they  stood  locked  and  swaying  for  a  moment 
until  Tarzan  succeeded  in  forcing  his  antagonist 
backward  over  a  table  which  crashed  to  the  floor, 
splintered  by  the  weight  of  the  two  heavy  bodies. 

The  girl  stood  watching  the  battle  with  wide  eyes. 
She  saw  the  two  men  rolling  hither  and  thither  across 
the  floor  and  she  heard  with  horror  the  low  growls 
that  came  from  the  lips  of  the  naked  giant. 
Schneider  was  trying  to  reach  his  foe's  throat  with 
his  fingers  while,  horror  of  horrors,  Bertha  Kircher 
could  see  that  the  other  was  searching  for  the  Ger 
man's  jugular  with  his  teeth! 

Schneider  seemed  to  realize  this  too,  for  he  re 
doubled  his  efforts  to  escape  and  finally  succeeded  in 
rolling  over  on  top  of  the  ape-man  and  breaking 
away.  Leaping  to  his  feet  he  ran  for  the  window; 
but  the  ape-man  was  too  quick  for  him  and  before 
he  could  leap  through  the  sash  a  heavy  hand  fell 
upon  his  shoulder  and  he  was  jerked  back  and  hurled 
across  the  room  to  the  opposite  wall.  There  Tarzan 
followed  him,  and  once  again  they  locked,  dealing 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


each  other  terrific  Hows,  until  Schneider  in  a  pierc 
ing  voice  screamed,  "  Kamerad!  Kamerad!" 

Tarzan  grasped  the  man  by  the  throat  and  drew 
his  hunting  knife.  Schneider's  back  was  against  the 
wall  so  that  though  his  knees  wobbled  he  was  held 
erect  by  the  ape-man.  Tarzan  brought  the  sharp 
point  to  the  lower  part  of  the  German's  abdomen. 

"  Thus  you  slew  my  mate,"  he  hissed  in  a  terrible 
voice.  "Thus  shall  you  die!" 

The  girl  staggered  forward.  "  Oh,  God,  no  !  "  she 
cried.  "  Not  that.  You  are  too  brave  —  you  cannot 
be  such  a  beast  as  that!" 

Tarzan  turned  and  looked  at  her.  "  No,"  he  said, 
"  you  are  right,  I  cannot  do  it  —  I  am  no  German," 
and  he  raised  the  point  of  his  blade  and  sunk  it 
deep  into  the  putrid  heart  of  Hauptmann  Fritz 
Schneider,  putting  a  bloody  period  to  the  Hun's 
last  gasping  cry  :  "  I  did  not  do  it  !  She  is  not  -  " 

Then  Tarzan  turned  toward  the  girl  and  held  out 
his  hand.  "  Give  me  my  locket,"  he  said. 

She  pointed  toward  the  dead  officer.  "He  has 
it."  Tarzan  searched  him  and  found  the  trinket. 
"  Now  you  ma^  give  me  the  papers,"  he  said  to  the 
girl,  and  without  a  word  she  handed  him  a  folded 
document. 

For  a  long  time  he  stood  looking  at  her  before 
he  spoke  again. 

"I  came  for  you,  too,"  he  said.  "It  would  be 
difficult  to  take  you  back  from  here  and  so  I  was 
going  to  kill  you,  as  I  have  sworn  to  kill  all  your 
kind;  but  you  were  right  when  you  said  that  I  was 


VENGEANCE  AND  MERCY  113 

not  such,  a  beast  as  that  slayer  of  women.  I  could 
not  slay  him  as  he  slew  mine,  nor  can  I  slay  you 
who  are  a  woman." 

He  crossed  to  the  window,  raised  the  sash  and 
an  instant  later  he  had  stepped  out  and  disappeared 
into  the  night.  And  then  Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher 
stepped  quickly  to  the  corpse  upon  the  floor,  slipped 
her  hand  inside  the  blouse  and  drew  forth  a  little 
sheaf  of  papers  which  she  tucked  into  her  waist 
before  she  went  to  the  window  and  called  for  help. 


CHAPTER  VII 

WHEN    BLOOD    TOLD 

TARZAN  of  the  Apes  was  disgusted.  He  had 
had  the  German  spy,  Bertha  Kircher,  in  his 
power  and  had  left  her  unscathed.  It  is  true  that 
he  had  slain  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider,  that  Un- 
terlieutenant  von  Goss  had  died  at  his  hands,  and 
that  he  had  otherwise  wreaked  vengeance  upon  the 
men  of  the  German  company  who  had  murdered,  pil 
laged,  and  raped  at  Tarzan's  bungalow  in  the  Waziri 
country.  There  was  still  another  officer  to  be  ac 
counted  for;  but  him  he  could  not  find.  It  was 
Lieutenant  Obergatz  he  still  sought,  though  vainly, 
for  at  last  he  learned  that  the  man  had  been  sent 
upon  some  special  mission,  whether  in  Africa  or 
back  to  Europe  Tarzan's  informant  either  did  not 
know  or  would  not  divulge. 

But  the  fact  that  he  had  permitted  sentiment  to 
stay  his  hand  when  he  might  so  easily  have  put 
Bertha  Kircher  out  of  the  way  in  the  hotel  at  Wil- 
helmstal  that  night  rankled  in  the  ape-man's  bosom. 
He  was  shamed  by  his  weakness  and  when  he  had 
handed  the  paper  she  had  given  him  to  the  British 
chief  of  staff,  even  though  the  information  it  con 
tained  permitted  the  British  to  frustrate  a  German 

114 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  115 

flank  attack,  he  was  still  much  dissatisfied  with  him 
self.  And  possibly  the  root  of  this  dissatisfaction 
lay  in  the  fact  that  he  realized  that  were  he  again 
to  have  the  same  opportunity  he  would  still  find  it 
as  impossible  to  slay  a  woman  as  it  had  been  in 
Wilhelmstal  that  night. 

Tarzan  Warned  this  weakness,  as  he  considered  it, 
upon  his  association  with  the  effeminating  influences 
of  civilization,  for  in  the  bottom  of  his  savage  heart 
he  held  in  contempt  both  civilization  and  its  repre 
sentatives —  the  men  and  women  of  the  civilized 
countries  of  the  world.  Always  was  he  comparing 
their  weaknesses,  their  vices,  their  hypocrisies,  and 
their  little  vanities  with  the  open,  primitive  ways  of 
his  ferocious  jungle  mates  and  all  the  while  there 
battled  in  that  same  big  heart  with  these  forces 
another  mighty  force  —  Tarzan's  love  and  loyalty 
for  his  friends  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  ape-man,  reared  as  he  had  been  by  savage 
beasts  amid  savage  beasts,  was  slow  to  make  friends. 
Acquaintances  he  numbered  by  the  hundreds ;  but  of 
friends  he  had  few.  These  few  he  would  have  died 
for  as,  doubtless,  they  would  have  died  for  him ;  but 
there  were  none  of  these  fighting  with  the  British 
forces  in  East  Africa  and  so,  sickened  and  disgusted 
by  the  sight  of  man  waging  his  cruel  and  inhuman 
warfare,  Tarzan  determined  to  heed  the  insistent  call 
of  the  remote  jungle  of  his  youth,  for  the  Germans 
were  now  on  the  run  and  the  war  in  East  Africa 
was  so  nearly  over  that  he  realized  that  his  further 
services  would  be  of  negligible  value. 


116  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Never  regularly  sworn  into  the  service  of  the 
king,  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  remain  now  that 
the  moral  obligation  had  been  removed,  and  so  it 
was  that  he  disappeared  from  the  British  camp  as 
mysteriously  as  he  had  appeared  a  few  months 
before. 

More  than  once  had  Tarzan  reverted  to  the  primi-t 
tive  only  to  return  again  to  civilization  through  love 
for  his  mate;  but  now  that  she  was  gone  he  felt 
that  this  time  he  had  definitely  departed  forever 
from  the  haunts  of  man,  and  that  he  should  live  and 
die  a  beast  among  beasts  even  as  he  had  been  from 
infancy  to  maturity. 

Between  him  and  his  destination  lay  a  trackless 
wilderness  of  untouched  primeval  savagery  where, 
doubtless  in  many  spots,  his  would  be  the  first  human 
foot  to  touch  the  virgin  turf.  Nor  did  this  prospect 
dismay  the  Tarmangani  —  rather  was  it  an  urge  and 
an  inducement,  for  rich  in  his  veins  flowed  that  noble 
strain  of  blood  that  has  made  most  of  the  earth's 
surface  habitable  for  man. 

The  question  of  food  and  water  that  would  have 
risen  paramount  in  the  mind  of  an  ordinary  man 
contemplating  such  an  excursion  gave  Tarzan  little 
concern.  The  wilderness  was  his  natural  habitat 
and  woodcraft  as  inherent  to  him  as  breathing. 
Like  other  jungle  animals  he  could  scent  water  from 
a  great  distance  and,  where  you  or  I  might  die  of 
thirst,  the  ape-man  would  unerringly  select  the  exact 
spot  at  which  to  dig  and  find  water. 

For  several  days  Tarzan  traversed  a  country  rich 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  117 

in  game  and  water  courses.  He  moved  slowly,  hunt 
ing  and  fishing,  or  again  fraternizing  or  quarreling 
with  the  other  savage  denizens  of  the  jungle.  Now 
it  was  little  Manu,  the  monkey,  who  chattered  and 
scolded  at  the  mighty  Tarmangani  and  in  the  next 
breath  warned  him  that  Histah,  the  snake,  lay  coiled 
in  the  long  grass  just  ahead.  Of  Manu  Tarzan  in 
quired  concerning  the  great  apes  —  the  Mangani — > 
and  was  told  that  few  inhabited  this  part  of  the 
jungle,  and  that  even  these  were  hunting  farther 
to  the  north  this  season  of  the  year. 

"But  there  is  Bolgani,"  said  Manu.  "Would  you 
like  to  see  Bolgani?" 

Manu's  tone  was  sneering  and  Tarzan  knew  that 
it  was  because  little  Manu  thought  all  creatures 
feared  mighty  Bolgani,  the  gorilla.  Tarzan  arched 
his  great  chest  and  struck  it  with  a  clinched  fist. 
"I  am  Tarzan,"  he  cried.  "While  Tarzan  was  yet 
a  balu  he  slew  a  Bolgani.  Tarzan  seeks  the  Man 
gani,  who  are  his  brothers,  but  Bolgani  he  does  not 
seek,  so  let  Bolgani  keep  from  the  path  of  Tarzan." 

Little  Manu,  the  monkey,  was  much  impressed, 
for  the  way  of  the  jungle  is  to  boast  and  to  believe. 
It  was  then  that  he  condescended  to  tell  Tarzan  more 
of  the  Mangani. 

"They  go  there  and  there  and  there,"  he  said, 
making  a  wide  sweep  with  a  brown  hand  first  toward 
the  north,  then  west,  and  then  south  again.  "For 
there,"  and  he  pointed  due  west,  "is  much  hunting; 
but  between  lies  a  great  place  where  there  is  no 
food  and  no  water,  so  they  must  go  that  way,"  and 


118  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

again  he  swung  his  hand  through  the  half-circle  that 
explained  to  Tarzan  the  great  detour  the  apes  made 
to  come  to  their  hunting  ground  to  the  west. 

That  was  all  right  for  the  Mangani,  who  are  lazy 
and  do  not  care  to  move  rapidly;  but  for  Tarzan 
the  straight  road  would  be  the  best.  He  would  cross 
the  dry  country  and  come  to  the  good  hunting  in 
a  third  of  the  time  that  it  would  take  to  go  far  to 
the  north  and  circle  back  again.  And  so  it  was  that 
he  continued  on  toward  the  west  and  crossing  a 
range  of  low  mountains  came  in  sight  of  a  broad 
plateau,  rock  strewn  and  desolate.  Far  in  the  dis 
tance  he  saw  another  range  of  mountains  beyond 
which  he  felt  must  lie  the  hunting  ground  of  the 
Mangani.  There  he  would  join  them  and  remain 
for  a  while  before  continuing  on  toward  the  coast 
and  the  little  cabin  that  his  father  had  built  beside 
the  land-locked  harbor  at  the  jungle's  edge. 

Tarzan  was  full  of  plans.  He  would  rebuild  and 
enlarge  the  cabin  of  his  birth,  constructing  storage 
houses  where  he  would  make  the  apes  lay  away  food 
when  it  was  plenty  against  the  times  that  were  lean 
—  a  thing  no  ape  ever  had  dreamed  of  doing.  And 
the  tribe  would  remain  always  in  the  locality  and  he 
would  be  king  again  as  he  had  in  the  past.  He  would 
try  to  teach  them  some  of  the  better  things  that  he 
had  learned  from  man,  yet  knowing  the  ape-mind  as 
only  Tarzan  could,  he  feared  that  his  labors  would 
be  for  naught. 

The  ape-man  found  the  country  he  was  crossing 
rough  in  the  extreme,  the  roughest  he  ever  had  en- 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  119 

countered.  The  plateau  was  cut  by  frequent  canyons 
the  passage  of  which  often  entailed  hours  of  wear 
ing  effort.  The  vegetation  was  sparse  and  of  a 
faded  brown  color  that  lent  to  the  whole  landscape 
a  most  depressing  aspect.  Great  rocks  were  strewn 
in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  lying 
partially  embedded  in  an  impalpable  dust  that  rose 
in  clouds  about  him  at  every  step.  The  sun  beat 
down  mercilessly  out  of  a  cloudless  sky. 

For  a  day  Tarzan  toiled  across  this  now  hateful 
land  and  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun  the  distant 
mountains  to  the  west  seemed  no  nearer  than  at 
morn.  Never  a  sign  of  living  thing  had  the  ape- 
man  seen,  other  than  Ska,  that  bird  of  ill  omen, 
that  had  followed  him  tirelessly  since  he  had  en 
tered  this  parched  waste. 

No  littlest  beetle  that  he  might  eat  had  given 
evidence  that  life  of  any  sort  existed  here,  and  it 
was  a  hungry  and  thirsty  Tarzan  who  lay  down  to 
rest  in  the  evening.  He  decided  now  to  push  on 
during  the  cool  of  the  night,  for  he  realized  that 
even  mighty  Tarzan  had  his  limitations  and  that 
where  there  was  no  food  one  could  not  eat  and  where 
there  was  no  water  the  greatest  woodcraft  in  the 
world  could  find  none.  It  was  a  totally  new  ex 
perience  to  Tarzan  to  find  so  barren  and  terrible 
a  country  in  his  beloved  Africa.  Even  the  Sahara 
had  its  oases ;  but  this  frightful  world  gave  no  indi 
cation  of  containing  a  square  foot  of  hospitable 
ground. 

However,  he  had  no  misgivings  but  that  he  would 


120  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

fare  forth  into  the  wonder  country  of  which  little 
Manu  had  told  him  though  it  was  certain  that  he 
would  do  it  with  a  dry  skin  and  an  empty  belly. 
And  so  he  fought  on  until  daylight  when  he  again 
felt  the  need  of  rest.  He  was  at  the  edge  of  another 
of  those  terrible  canyons,  the  eighth  he  had  crossed, 
whose  precipitous  sides  would  have  taxed  to  the 
uttermost  the  strength  of  an  untired  man  well  for 
tified  by  food  and  water  and  for  the  first  time,  as 
he  looked  down  into  the  abyss  and  then  at  the  oppo 
site  side  that  he  must  scale,  misgivings  began  to  assail 
his  mind. 

He  did  not  fear  death  —  with  the  memory  of  his 
murdered  mate  still  fresh  in  his  mind  he  almost 
courted  it,  yet  strong  within  him  was  that  primal 
instinct  of  self-preservation  —  the  battling  force  of 
life  that  would  keep  hid  an  active  contender  against 
the  Great  Reaper  until,  fighting  to  the  very  last,  he 
should  be  overcome  by  a  superior  power. 

A  shadow  swung  slowly  across  the  ground  beside 
him  and  looking  up  the  ape-man  saw  Ska,  the  vul 
ture,  wheeling  a  wide  circle  above  him.  The  grim 
and  persistent  harbinger  of  evil  aroused  the  man 
to  renewed  determination.  He  arose  and  approached 
the  edge  of  the  canyon  and  then  wheeling,  with  his 
face  turned  upward  toward  the  circling  bird  of  prey, 
he  bellowed  forth  the  challenge  of  the  bull  ape. 

"  I  am  Tarzan,"  he  shouted,  "  Lord  of  the  Jungle. 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes  is  not  for  Ska,  eater  of  carrion. 
Go  back  to  the  lair  of  Dango  and  feed  off  the  leav 
ings  of  the  hyenas,  for  Tarzan  will  leave  no  bones 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  121 

for  Ska  to  pick  in  this  empty  wilderness  of  death." 
But  before  he  reached  the  bottom  of  the  canyon 
he  again  was  forced  to  the  realization  that  his  great 
strength  was  waning,  and  when  he  dropped  ex 
hausted  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff  and  saw  before  him 
the  opposite  wall  that  must  be  scaled,  he  bared  his 
fighting  fangs  and  growled.  For  an  hour  he  lay 
resting  in  the  cool  shade  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff. 
All  about  him  reigned  utter  silence  —  the  silence  of 
the  tomb.  No  fluttering  birds,  no  humming  insects, 
no  scurrying  reptiles  relieved  the  deathlike  stillness. 
This  indeed  was  the  valley  of  death.  He  felt  the 
depressing  influence  of  the  horrible  place  settling 
down  upon  him ;  but  he  staggered  to  his  feet,  shaking 
himself  like  a  great  lion,  for  was  he  not  still  Tarzan, 
mighty  Tarzan  of  the  Apes?  Yes,  and  Tarzan  the 
mighty  he  would  be  until  the  last  throb  of  that  savage 
heart ! 

As  he  crossed  the  floor  of  the  canyon  he  saw 
something  lying  close  to  the  base  of  the  side  wall 
he  was  approaching  —  something  that  stood  out  in 
startling  contrast  to  all  the  surroundings  and  yet 
seemed  so  much  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  somber 
scene  as  to  suggest  an  actor  amid  the  settings  of  a 
well-appointed  stage,  and  as  though  to  carry  out 
the  allegory  the  pitiless  rays  of  flaming  Kudu  topped 
the  eastern  cliff  picking  out  the  thing  lying  at  the 
foot  of  the  western  wall  like  a  giant  spotlight. 

And  as  Tarzan  came  nearer  he  saw  the  bleached 
skull  and  bones  of  a  human  being  about  which  were 
remnants  of  clothing  and  articles  of  equipment  that, 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


as  he  examined  them,  filled  the  ape-man  with  curiosity 
to  such  an  extent  that  for  a  time  he  forgot  his 
own  predicament  in  contemplation  of  the  remark 
able  story  suggested  by  these  mute  evidences  of  a 
tragedy  of  a  time  long  past. 

The  bones  were  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation  and 
indicated  by  their  intactness  that  the  flesh  had 
probably  been  picked  from  them  by  vultures  as  none 
was  broken;  but  the  pieces  of  equipment  bore  out 
the  suggestion  of  their  great  age.  In  this  protected 
spot  where  there  were  no  frosts  and  evidently  but 
little  rainfall,  the  bones  might  have  lain  for  ages 
without  disintegrating  for  there  were  here  no  other 
forces  to  scatter  or  disturb  them. 

Near  the  skeleton  lay  a  helmet  of  hammered  brass 
and  a  corroded  breastplate  of  steel  while  at  one  side 
was  a  long,  straight  sword  in  its  scabbard  and  an 
ancient  harquebus.  The  bones  were  those  of  a  large 
man  —  a  man  of  wondrous  strength  and  vitality 
Tarzan  knew  he  must  have  been  to  have  penetrated 
thus  far  through  the  dangers  of  Africa  with  such  a 
ponderous  yet  at  the  same  time  futile  armament. 

The  ape-man  felt  a  sense  of  deep  admiration  for 
this  nameless  adventurer  of  a  bygone  day.  What 
a  brute  of  a  man  he  must  have  been  and  what  a 
glorious  tale  of  battle  and  kaleidoscopic  vicissitudes 
of  fortune  must  once  have  been  locked  within  that 
whitened  skull!  Tarzan  stooped  to  examine  the 
shreds  of  clothing  that  still  lay  about  the  bones. 
Every  particle  of  leather  had  disappeared,  doubtless 
eaten  by  Ska.  No  boots  remained,  if  the  man  had 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD 


worn  boots,  but  there  were  several  buckles  scattered 
about  suggesting  that  a  great  part  of  his  trappings 
had  been  of  leather,  while  just  beneath  the  bones  of 
one  hand  lay  a  metal  cylinder  about  eight  inches 
long  and  two  inches  in  diameter.  As  Tarzan  picked 
it  up  he  saw  that  it  had  been  heavily  lacquered  and 
had  withstood  the  slight  ravages  of  time  so  well  as 
to  be  in  as  perfect  a  state  of  preservation  today  as 
it  had  been  when  its  owner  dropped  into  his  last, 
long  sleep  perhaps  centuries  ago. 

As  he  examined  it  he  discovered  that  one  end  was 
closed  with  a  friction  cover  which  a  little  twisting 
force  soon  loosened  and  removed  revealing  within  a 
roll  of  parchment  which  the  ape-man  removed  and 
opened  disclosing  a  number  of  age-yellowed  sheets 
closely  written  upon  in  a  fine  hand  in  a  language 
which  he  guessed  to  be  Spanish;  but  which  he  could 
not  decipher.  Upon  the  last  sheet  was  a  roughly 
drawn  map  with  numerous  reference  points  marked 
upon  it,  all  unintelligible  to  Tarzan,  who,  after  a 
brief  examination  of  the  papers,  returned  them  to 
their  metal  case,  replaced  the  top  and  was  about  to 
toss  the  little  cylinder  to  the  ground  beside  the  mute 
remains  of  its  former  possessor  when  some  whim  of 
curiosity  unsatisfied  prompted  him  to  slip  it  into 
the  quiver  with  his  arrows,  though  as  he  did  so  it 
was  with  the  grim  thought  that  possibly  centuries 
hence  it  might  again  come  to  the  sight  of  man 
beside  his  own  bleached  bones. 

And  then,  with  a  parting  glance  at  the  ancient 
skeleton,  he  turned  to  the  task  of  ascending  the  west- 


124  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

era  wall  of  the  canyon.  Slowly  and  with  many  rests 
he  dragged  his  weakening  body  upwards.  Again  and 
again  he  slipped  back  from  sheer  exhaustion  and 
would  have  fallen  to  the  floor  of  the  canyon  but  from 
merest  chance.  How  long  it  took  him  to  scale  that 
frightful  wall  he  could  not  have  told,  and  when  at 
last  he  dragged  himself  over  the  top  it  was  to  lie 
weak  and  gasping,  too  spent  to  rise  or  even  to  move 
a  few  inches  farther  from  the  perilous  edge  of  the 
chasm. 

At  last  he  arose,  very  slowly  and  with  evident 
effort  gaining  his  knees  first  and  then  staggering  to 
his  feet,  yet  his  indomitable  will  was  evidenced  by  a 
sudden  straightening  of  his  shoulders  and  a  deter 
mined  shake  of  his  head  as  he  lurched  forward  on 
unsteady  legs  to  take  up  his  valiant  fight  for  sur 
vival.  Ahead  he  scanned  the  rough  landscape  for 
sign  of  another  canyon  which  he  knew  would  spell 
inevitable  doom.  The  western  hills  rose  closer  now 
though  weirdly  unreal  as  they  seemed  to  dance  in  the 
sunlight  as  though  mocking  him  with  their  nearness 
at  the  moment  that  exhaustion  was  about  to  render 
them  forever  unattainable. 

Beyond  them  he  knew  must  be  the  fertile  hunting 
grounds  of  which  Manu  had  told.  Even  if  no  canyon 
intervened,  his  chances  of  surmounting  even  low 
hills  seemed  remote  should  he  have  the  fortune  to 
reach  their  base ;  but  with  another  canyon  hope  was 
dead.  Above  him  Ska  still  circled  and  it  seemed  to 
the  ape-man  that  the  ill-omened  bird  hovered  ever 
lower  and  lower  as  though  reading  in  that  failing 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  125 

gait  the  nearing  of  the  end  and  through  cracked 
lips  Tarzan  growled  out  his  defiance. 

Mile  after  mile  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  put  slowly 
behind  him  borne  up  by  sheer  force  of  will  where  a 
lesser  man  would  have  lain  down  to  die  and  rest  for 
ever  tired  muscles  whose  every  move  was  an  agony 
of  effort ;  but  at  last  his  progress  became  practically 
mechanical  —  he  staggered  on  with  a  dazed  mind 
that  reacted  numbly  to  a  single  urge  —  on,  on,  on ! 
The  hills  were  now  but  a  dim,  ill-defined  blur  ahead. 
Sometimes  he  forgot  that  they  were  hills,  and  again 
he  wondered  vaguely  why  he  must  go  on  forever 
through  all  this  torture  endeavoring  to  overtake 
them  —  the  fleeing,  elusive  hills.  Presently  he  began 
to  hate  them  and  there  formed  within  his  half-de 
lirious  brain  the  hallucination  that  the  hills  were 
German  hills,  that  they  had  slain  someone  dear  to 
him,  whom  he  could  never  quite  recall,  and  that  he 
was  pursuing  to  slay  them. 

This  idea,  growing,  appeared  to  give  him 
strength  —  a  new  and  revivifying  purpose  —  so  t^iat 
for  a  time  he  no  longer  staggered ;  but  went  forward 
steadily  with  head  erect.  Once  he  stumbled  and  fell, 
and  when  he  tried  to  rise  he  found  that  he  could 
not  —  that  his  strength  was  so  far  gone  that  he 
could  only  crawl  forward  on  his  hands  and  knees 
for  a  few  yards  and  then  sink  down  again  to  rest. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  frequent  periods  of 
utter  exhaustion  that  he  heard  the  flap  of  dismal 
wings  close  above  him.  With  his  remaining  strength 
he  turned  himself  over  on  his  back  to  see  Ska  wheel 


126  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

quickly  upward.  With  the  sight  Tarzan's  mind 
cleared  for  a  while. 

"  Is  the  end  so  near  as  that?  "  he  thought.  "  Does 
Ska  know  that  I  am  so  near  gone  that  he  dares  come 
down  and  perch  upon  my  carcass  ?  "  And  even  then 
a  grim  smile  touched  those  swollen  lips  as  into  the 
savage  mind  came  a  sudden  thought  —  the  cunning 
of  the  wild  beast  at  bay.  Closing  his  eyes  he  threw 
a  forearm  across  them  to  protect  them  from  Ska's 
powerful  beak  and  then  he  lay  very  still  and  waited. 

It  was  restful  lying  there,  for  the  sun  was  now 
obscured  by  clouds  and  Tarzan  was  very  tired.  He 
feared  that  he  might  sleep  and  something  told  him 
that  if  he  did  he  would  never  awaken,  and  so  he 
concentrated  all  his  remaining  powers  upon  the  one 
thought  of  remaining  awake.  Not  a  muscle  moved  — 
to  Ska,  circling  above,  it  became  evident  that  the  end 
had  come  —  that  at  last  he  should  be  rewarded  for 
his  long  vigil. 

Circling  slowly  he  dropped  closer  and  closer  to 
the  dying  man.  Why  did  not  Tarzan  move?  Had 
he  indeed  been  overcome  by  the  sleep  of  exhaustion, 
or  was  Ska  right — had  Death  at  last  claimed  that 
mighty  body?  Was  that  great,  savage  heart  stilled 
forever?  It  is  unthinkable. 

Ska,  filled  with  suspicions,  circled  warily.  Twice 
he  almost  alighted  upon  the  great,  naked  breast 
only  to  wheel  suddenly  away;  but  the  third  time 
his  talons  touched  the  brown  skin.  It  was  as  though 
the  contact  closed  an  electric  circuit  that  instan 
taneously  vitalized  the  quiet  clod  that  had  lain  mo- 


WHEN  BLOOD  TOLD  127 

tionless  so  long.  A  brown  hand  swept  downward 
from  the  brown  forehead  and  before  Ska  could  raise 
a  wing  in  flight  he  was  in  the  clutches  of  his  intended 
victim. 

Ska  fought,  but  he  was  no  match  for  even  a  dying 
Tarzan,  and  a  moment  later  the  ape-man's  teeth 
closed  upon  the  carrion-eater.  The  flesh  was  coarse 
and  tough  and  gave  off  an  unpleasant  odor  and  a 
worse  taste ;  but  it  was  food  and  the  blood  was  drink 
and  Tarzan  only  an  ape  at  heart  and  a  dying  ape 
into  the  bargain  —  dying  of  starvation  and  thirst. 

Even  mentally  weakened  as  he  was  the  ape-man 
was  still  master  of  his  appetite  and  so  he  ate  but 
sparingly,  saving  the  rest  and  then,  feeling  that  he 
now  could  do  so  safely,  he  turned  upon  his  side  and 
slept. 

Rain,  beating  heavily  upon  his  body,  awakened 
him  and  sitting  up  he  cupped  his  hands  and  caught 
the  precious  drops  which  he  transferred  to  his 
parched  throat.  Only  a  little  he  got  at  a  time ;  but 
that  was  best.  The  few  mouthfuls  of  Ska  that  he 
had  eaten,  together  with  the  blood  and  rain  water 
and  the  sleep  had  refreshed  him  greatly  and  put  new 
strength  into  his  tired  muscles. 

Now  he  could  see  the  hills  again  and  they  were 
close  and,  though  there  was  no  sun,  the  world  looked 
bright  and  cheerful  for  Tarzan  knew  that  he  was 
saved.  The  bird  that  would  have  devoured  him, 
and  the  providential  rain,  had  saved  him  at  the 
very  moment  that  death  seemed  inevitable. 

Again  partaking  of  a  few  mouthfuls  of  the  unsa- 


128  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

vory  flesh  of  Ska,  the  vulture,  the  ape-man  arose  with 
something  of  his  old  force  and  set  out  with  steady 
gait  toward  the  hills  of  promise  rising  alluringly 
ahead.  Darkness  fell  before  he  reached  them;  but 
he  kept  on  until  he  felt  the  steeply  rising  ground 
that  proclaimed  his  arrival  at  the  base  of  the  hills 
proper  and  then  he  lay  down  and  waited  until  morn 
ing  should  reveal  the  easiest  passage  to  the  land 
beyond.  The  rain  had  ceased,  but  the  sky  still 
was  overcast  so  that  even  his  keen  eyes  could  not 
penetrate  the  darkness  farther  than  a  few  feet.  And 
there  he  slept,  after  eating  again  of  what  remained 
of  Ska,  until  the  morning  sun  awakened  him  with  a 
new  sense  of  strength  and  well-being. 

And  so  at  last  he  came  through  the  hills  out  of 
the  valley  of  death  into  a  land  of  parklike  beauty, 
rich  in  game.  Below  him  lay  a  deep  valley  through 
the  center  of  which  dense  jungle  vegetation  marked 
the  course  of  a  river  beyond  which  a  primeval  forest 
extended  for  miles  to  terminate  at  last  at  the  foot 
of  lofty,  snow-capped  mountains.  It  was  a  land 
that  Tarzan  never  had  looked  upon  before,  nor  was 
it  likely  that  the  foot  of  another  white  man  ever 
had  touched  it  unless,  possibly,  in  some  long-gone 
day  the  adventurer  whose  skeleton  he  had  found 
bleaching  in  the  canyon  had  traversed  it. 


The  fight  with  Ska. 


Page  126 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TAKZAN  AND  THE  GEEAT  APES 


days  the  ape-man  spent  in  resting  and 
jj_  recuperating,  eating  fruits  and  nuts  and  the 
smaller  animals  that  were  most  easily  bagged,  and 
upon  the  fourth  he  set  out  to  explore  the  valley  and 
search  for  the  great  apes.  Time  was  a  negligible 
factor  in  the  equation  of  life  —  it  was  all  the  same 
to  Tarzan  if  he  reached  the  west  coast  in  a  month 
or  a  year  or  three  years.  All  time  was  his  and  all 
Africa.  His  was  absolute  freedom  —  the  last  tie 
that  had  bound  him  to  civilization  and  custom  had 
been  severed.  He  was  alone  but  he  was  not  exactly 
lonely.  The  greater  part  of  his  life  had  been  spent 
thus,  and  though  there  was  no  other  of  his  kind,  he 
was  at  all  times  surrounded  by  the  jungle  peoples 
for  whom  familiarity  had  bred  no  contempt  within 
his  breast.  The  least  of  them  interested  him  and, 
too,  there  were  those  with  whom  he  always  made 
friends  easily,  and  there  were  his  hereditary  enemies 
whose  presence  gave  a  spice  to  life  that  might  other 
wise  have  become  humdrum  and  monotonous. 

And  so  it  was  that  on  the  fourth  day  he  set  out 
to  explore  the  valley  and  search  for  his  fellow-apes. 
He  had  proceeded  southward  for  a  short  distance 

129 


130  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

when  his  nostrils  were  assailed  by  the  scent  of  man, 
of  Gomangani,  the  black  man.  There  were  many  of 
them  and  mixed  with  their  scent  was  another  —  that 
of  a  she  Tarmangani. 

Swinging  through  the  trees  Tarzan  approached 
the  authors  of  these  disturbing  scents.  He  came 
warily  from  the  flank,  but  paying  no  attention  to  the 
wind,  for  he  knew  that  man  with  his  dull  senses 
could  apprehend  him  only  through  his  eyes  or  ears 
and  then  when  comparatively  close.  Had  he  been 
stalking  Numa  or  Sheeta  he  would  have  circled 
about  until  his  quarry  was  up  wind  from  him,  thus 
'taking  practically  all  the  advantage  up  to  the  very 
moment  that  he  came  within  sight  or  hearing ;  but  in 
the  stalking  of  the  dull  clod,  man,  he  approached 
with  almost  contemptuous  indifference  so  that  all  the 
jungle  about  him  knew  that  he  was  passing  —  all 
but  the  men  he  stalked. 

From  the  dense  foliage  of  a  great  tree  he  watched 
them  pass  —  a  disreputable  mob  of  blacks,  some 
garbed  in  the  uniform  of  German  East  African  na 
tive  troops,  others  wearing  a  single  garment  of  the 
same  uniform,  while  many  had  reverted  to  the  simple 
dress  of  their  forbears  —  approximating  nudity. 
There  were  many  black  women  with  them,  laughing 
and  talking  as  they  kept  pace  with  the  men,  all  of 
whom  were  armed  with  German  rifles  and  equipped 
with  German  belts  and  ammunition. 

There  were  BO  white  officers  there,  but  it  was 
none  the  less  apparent  to  Tarzan  that  these  men 
were  from  some  German  native  command,  and  he 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  'APES     131 

guessed  that  they  had  slain  their  officers  and  taken 
to  the  jungle  with  their  women,  or  had  stolen  some 
from  native  villages  through  which  they  must  have 
passed.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  putting 
as  much  ground  between  themselves  and  the  coast  as 
possible  and  doubtless  were  seeking  some  impene 
trable  fastness  of  the  vast  interior  where  they  might 
inaugurate  a  reign  of  terror  among  the  primitively 
armed  inhabitants  and  by  raiding,  looting,  and  rape 
grow  rich  in  goods  and  women  at  the  expense  of  the 
district  upon  which  they  settled  themselves. 

Between  two  of  the  black  women  marched  a  slen 
der,  white  girl.  She  was  hatless  and  with  torn  and 
disheveled  clothing  that  had  evidently  once  been  a 
trim  riding  habit.  Her  coat  was  gone  and  her  waist 
half  torn  from  her  body.  Occasionally  and  without 
apparent  provocation  one  or  the  other  of  the  Ne 
gresses  struck  or  pushed  her  roughly.  Tarzan 
watched  through  half-closed  eyes.  His  first  impulse 
was  to  leap  among  them  and  bear  the  girl  from  their 
cruel  clutches.  He  had  recognized  her  immediately 
and  it  was  because  of  this  fact  that  he  hesitated. 

What  was  it  to  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  what  fate 
befell  this  enemy  spy?  He  had  been  unable  to  kill 
her  himself  because  of  an  inherent  weakness  that 
would  not  permit  him  to  lay  hands  upon  a  woman, 
all  of  which  of  course  had  no  bearing  upon  what 
others  might  do  to  her.  That  her  fate  would  now 
be  infinitely  more  horrible  than  the  quick  and  pain 
less  death  that  the  ape-man  would  have  meted  to  her 
only  interested  Tarzan  to  the  extent  that  the  more 


182  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

frighful  the  end  of  a  German  the  more  in  keeping 
it  would  be  with  what  they  all  deserved. 

And  so  he  let  the  blacks  pass  with  Fraulein  Bertha 
Kircher  in  their  midst,  or  at  least  until  the  last 
straggling  warrior  suggested  to  his  mind  the  pleas 
ures  of  blackbaiting — an  amusement  and  a  sport  in 
which  he  had  grown  ever  more  proficient  since  that 
long-gone  day  when  Kulonga,  the  son  of  Mbonga,  the 
chief,  had  cast  his  unfortunate  spear  at  Kala,  the 
ape-man's  foster  mother. 

The  last  man,  who  must  have  stopped  for  some 
purpose,  was  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  rear  of  the 
party.  He  was  hurrying  to  catch  up  when  Tarzan 
saw  him,  and  as  he  passed  beneath  the  tree  in  which 
the  ape-man  perched  above  the  trail,  a  silent  noose 
dropped  deftly  about  his  neck.  The  main  body  still 
was  in  plain  sight,  and  as  the  frightened  man  voiced 
a  piercing  shriek  of  terror,  they  looked  back  to  see 
his  body  rise  as  though  by  magic  straight  into  the 
air  and  disappear  amidst  the  leafy  foliage  above. 

For  a  moment  the  blacks  stood  paralyzed  by 
astonishment  and  fear;  but  presently  the  burly  ser 
geant,  Usanga,  who  led  them,  started  back  along  the 
trail  at  a  run,  calling  to  the  others  to  follow  him. 
Loading  their  guns  as  they  came  the  blacks  ran  to 
succor  their  fellow,  and  at  Usanga's  command  they 
spread  into  a  thin  line  that  presently  entirely  sur 
rounded  the  tree  into  which  their  comrade  had 
vanished. 

Usanga  called  but  received  no  reply,  then  he  ad 
vanced  slowly  with  rifle  at  the  ready,  peering  up 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     133 

into  the  tree.  He  could  see  no  one  —  nothing.  The 
circle  closed  in  until  fifty  blacks  were  searching 
among  the  branches  with  their  keen  eyes.  What  had 
become  of  their  fellow?  They  had  seen  him  rise 
into  the  tree  and  since  then  many  eyes  had  been  fas 
tened  upon  the  spot,  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  him. 
One  more  venturesome  than  his  fellows  volunteered 
to  climb  into  the  tree  and  investigate.  He  was  gone 
but  a  minute  or  two  and  when  he  dropped  to  earth 
again  he  swore  that  there  was  no  sign  of  a  creature 
there. 

Perplexed,  and  by  this  time  a  bit  awed,  the  blacks 
drew  slowly  away  from  the  spot  and  with  many 
backward  glances  and  less  laughing  continued  upon 
their  journey  until,  when  about  a  mile  beyond  the 
spot  at  which  their  fellow  had  disappeared,  those  in 
the  lead  saw  him  peering  from  behind  a  tree  at  one 
side  of  the  trail  just  in  front  of  them.  With  shouts 
to  their  companions  that  he  had  been  found  they  ran 
forward;  but  those  who  were  first  to  reach  the  tree 
stopped  suddenly  and  shrank  back,  their  eyes  rolling 
fearfully  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  another 
as  though  they  expected  some  nameless  horror  to 
leap  out  upon  them. 

Nor  was  their  terror  without  foundation.  Im 
paled  upon  the  end  of  a  broken  branch  the  head  of 
their  companion  was  propped  behind  the  tree  so  that 
it  appeared  to  be  looking  out  at  them  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  bole. 

It  was  then  that  many  wished  to  turn  back,  argu 
ing  that  they  had  offended  some  demon  of  the  wood 


134  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

upon  whose  preserve  they  had  trespassed;  but 
Usanga  refused  to  listen  to  them,  assuring  them  that 
inevitable  torture  and  death  awaited  them  should 
they  return  and  fall  again  into  the  hands  of  their 
cruel  German  masters.  At  last  his  reasoning  pre 
vailed  to  the  end  that  a  much-subdued  and  terrified 
band  moved  in  a  compact  mass,  like  a  drove  of  sheep, 
forward  through  the  valley  and  there  were  no 
stragglers. 

It  is  a  Kappy  characteristic  of  the  Negro  race 
which  they  hold  in  common  with  little  children,  that 
their  spirits  seldom  remain  depressed  for  a  con 
siderable  length  of  time  after  the  immediate  cause 
of  depression  is  removed,  and  so  it  was  that  in  half 
an  hour  Usanga's  band  was  again  beginning  to  take 
on  to  some  extent  its  former  appearance  of  carefree 
light-heartedness.  Thus  were  the  heavy  clouds  of 
fear  slowly  dissipating  when  a  turn  in  the  trail 
brought  them  suddenly  upon  the  headless  body  of 
their  erstwhile  companion  lying  directly  in  their 
path  and  they  were  again  plunged  into  the  depth  of 
fear  and  gloomy  forebodings. 

So  utterly  inexplicable  and  uncanny  had  the  en 
tire  occurrence  been  that  there  was  not  a  one  of  them 
who  could  find  a  ray  of  comfort  penetrating  the 
dead  blackness  of  its  ominous  portent.  What  had 
happened  to  one  of  their  number  each  conceived  as 
being  a  wholly  possible  fate  for  himself — in  fact 
quite  his  probable  fate.  If  such  a  thing  could  hap 
pen  in  broad  daylight  what  frightful  thing  might  not 
fall  to  their  lot  when  night  had  enshrouded  them  in 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     135 

her  mantle  of  darkness.  They  trembled  in  antici 
pation. 

The  white  girl  in  their  midst  was  no  less  mystified 
than  they;  but  far  less  moved,  since  sudden  death 
was  the  most  merciful  fate  to  which  she  might  now 
look  forward.  So  far  she  had  been  subjected  to 
nothing  worse  than  the  petty  cruelties  of  the  women 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  had  alone  been  the  pres 
ence  of  the  women  that  had  saved  her  from  worse 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  some  of  the  men1 — 
notably  the  brutal,  black  sergeant,  Usanga.  His 
own  woman  was  of  the  party  —  a  veritable  giantess, 
a  virago  of  the  first  magnitude  —  and  she  was  evi 
dently  the  only  thing  in  the  world  of  which  Usanga 
stood  in  awe.  Even  though  she  was  particularly 
cruel  to  the  young  woman,  the  latter  believed  that 
she  was  her  sole  protection  from  the  degraded  black 
tyrant. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  band  came  upon  a  small 
palisaded  village  of  thatched  huts  set  in  a  clearing 
in  the  jungle  close  beside  a  placid  river.  At  their 
approach  the  villagers  came  pouring  out  and  Usanga 
advanced  with  two  of  his  warriors  to  palaver  with 
the  chief.  The  experiences  of  the  day  had  so  shaken 
the  nerves  of  the  black  sergeant  that  he  was  ready 
to  treat  with  these  people  rather  than  take  their  vil 
lage  by  force  of  arms  as  would  ordinarily  have  been 
his  preference ;  but  now  a  vague  conviction  influenced 
him  that  there  watched  over  this  part  of  the  jungle 
a  powerful  demon  who  wielded  miraculous  power 
for  evil  against  those  who  offended  him.  First 


136  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Usanga  would  learn  how  these  villagers  stood  with 
this  savage  god  and  if  they  had  his  goodwill  Usanga 
would  be  most  careful  to  treat  them  with  kindness 
and  respect. 

At  the  palaver  it  developed  that  the  village  chief 
had  food,  goats,  and  fowl  which  he  would  be  glad 
to  dispose  of  for  a  proper  consideration ;  but  as  the 
consideration  would  have  meant  parting  with  preci 
ous  rifles  and  ammunition,  or  the  very  clothing  from 
their  backs,  Usanga  began  to  see  that  after  all  it 
might  be  forced  upon  him  to  wage  war  to  obtain 
food. 

A  happy  solution  was  arrived  at  by  a  suggestion 
of  one  of  his  men  —  that  the  soldiers  go  forth  the 
following  day  and  hunt  for  the  villagers,  bringing 
them  in  so  much  fresh  meat  in  return  for  their  hos 
pitality.  This  the  chief  agreed  to,  stipulating  the 
kind  and  quantity  of  game  to  be  paid  in  return  for 
flour,  goats,  and  fowl,  and  a  certain  number  of  huts 
that  were  to  be  turned  over  to  the  visitors.  The 
details  having  been  settled  after  an  hour  or  more 
of  that  bickering  argument  of  which  the  native  Afri 
can  is  so  fond,  the  newcomers  entered  the  village 
where  they  were  assigned  to  huts. 

Bertha  Kircher  found  herself  alone  in  a  small  hut 
close  to  the  palisade  at  the  far  end  of  the  village 
street,  and  though  she  was  neither  bound  nor 
guarded,  she  was  assured  by  Usanga  that  she  could 
not  escape  the  village  without  running  into  almost 
certain  death  in  the  jungle  which  the  villagers  as 
sured  them  was  infested  by  lions  of  great  size  and 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     137 

ferocity.  "  Be  good  to  Usanga,"  he  concluded,  "  and 
no  harm  will  befall  you.  I  will  come  again  to  see 
you  after  the  others  are  asleep.  Let  us  be  friends." 

As  the  brute  left  her  the  girl's  frame  was  racked 
by  a  convulsive  shudder  as  she  sank  to  the  floor  of 
the  hut  and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands.  She 
realized  now  why  the  women  had  not  been  left  to 
guard  her.  It  was  the  work  of  the  cunning  Usanga, 
but  would  not  his  woman  suspect  something  of  his 
intentions?  She  was  no  fool  and,  further,  being 
imbued  with  insane  jealousy  she  was  ever  looking 
for  some  overt  act  upon  the  part  of  her  ebon  lord. 
Bertha  Kircher  felt  that  only  she  might  save  her 
and  that  she  would  save  her  if  word  could  be  but 
gotten  to  her.  But  how? 

Left  alone  and  away  from  the  eyes  of  her  captors 
for  the  first  time  since  the  previous  night,  the  girl 
immediately  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to 
assure  herself  that  the  papers  she  had  taken  from 
the  body  of  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  were  still 
safely  sewn  inside  one  of  her  undergarments. 

Alas !  Of  what  value  could  they  now  ever  be  to 
her  beloved  country?  But  habit  and  loyalty  were 
so  strong  within  her  that  she  still  clung  to  the  deter 
mined  hope  of  eventually  delivering  the  little  packet 
to  her  chief. 

The  natives  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her  exist 
ence —  no  one  came  near  the  hut,  not  even  to  bring 
her  food.  She  could  hear  them  at  the  other  end  of 
the  village  laughing  and  yelling  and  knew  that  they 
were  celebrating  with  food  and  native  beer  — 


138  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

knowledge  which  only  increased  her  apprehension. 
To  be  prisoner  in  a  native  village  in  the  very  heart 
of  an  unexplored  region  of  Central  Africa  —  the 
only  white  woman  among  a  band  of  drunken  Negroes ! 
The  very  thought  appalled  her.  Yet  there  was  a 
slight  promise  in  the  fact  that  she  had  so  far  been 
unmolested  —  the  promise  that  they  might,  indeed, 
have  forgotten  her  and  that  soon  they  might  become 
so  hopelessly  drunk  as  to  be  harmless. 

Darkness  had  fallen  and  still  no  one  came.  The 
girl  wondered  if  she  dared  venture  forth  in  search 
of  Naratu,  Usanga's  woman,  for  Usanga  might  not 
forget  that  he  had  promised  to  return.  No  one  was 
near  as  she  stepped  out  of  the  hut  and  made  her 
way  toward  the  part  of  the  village  where  the  revelers 
were  making  merry  about  a  large  fire.  As  she  ap 
proached  she  saw  the  villagers  and  their  guests 
squatting  in  a  large  circle  about  the  blaze  before 
which  a  half-dozen  naked  warriors  leaped  and  bent 
and  stamped  in  some  grotesque  dance.  Pots  of  food 
and  gourds  of  drink  were  being  passed  about  among 
the  audience.  Dirty  hands  were  plunged  into  the 
food  pots  and  the  captured  portions  devoured  so 
greedily  that  one  might  have  thought  the  entire 
community  had  been  upon  the  point  of  starvation. 
The  gourds  they  held  to  their  lips  until  the  beer 
ran  down  their  chins  and  the  vessel  was  wrested 
from  them  by  some  greedy  neighbor.  The  drink 
had  now  begun  to  take  noticeable  effect  upon  most 
of  them  with  the  result  that  they  were  beginning  to 
give  themselves  up  to  utter  and  unlicensed  abandon. 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     139 

As  the  girl  came  nearer,  keeping  in  the  shadow 
of  the  huts,  looking  for  Naratu  she  was  suddenly 
discovered  by  one  upon  the  edge  of  the  crowd  —  a 
huge  woman  who  rose,  shrieking,  and  came  toward 
her.  From  her  aspect  the  white  girl  thought  that 
the  woman  meant  literally  to  tear  her  to  pieces. 
So  utterly  wanton  and  uncalled-for  was  the  attack 
that  it  found  the  girl  entirely  unprepared,  and  what 
would  have  happened  had  not  a  warrior  interfered 
may  only  be  guessed.  And  then  Usanga,  noting  the 
interruption,  came  lurching  forward  to  question 
her. 

"What  do  you  want,"  he  cried,  "food  and  drink? 
Come  with  me ! "  and  he  threw  an  arm  about  her  and 
dragged  her  toward  the  circle. 

"  No  ! "  she  cried,  "  I  want  Naratu.  Where  is 
Naratu?" 

This  seemed  to  sober  the  black  for  a  moment  as 
though  he  had  temporarily  forgotten  his  better  half. 
He  cast  quick,  fearful  glances  about  and  then  evi 
dently  assured  that  Naratu  had  noticed  nothing,  he 
ordered  the  warrior  who  was  still  holding  the  infu 
riated  black  woman  from  the  white  girl  to  take  the 
latter  back  to  her  hut  and  to  remain  there  on  guard 
over  her. 

First  appropriating  a  gourd  of  beer  for  himself 
the  warrior  motioned  the  girl  to  precede  him,  and 
thus  guarded  she  returned  to  her  hut,  the  fellow 
squatting  down  just  outside  the  doorway  where 
he  confined  his  attentions  for  some  time  to  the 
gourd. 


140  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Bertha  Kircher  sat  down  at  the  far  side  of  the 
hut  awaiting  she  knew  not  what  impending  fate. 
She  could  not  sleep  so  filled  was  her  mind  with  wild 
schemes  of  escape  though  each  new  one  must  always 
be  discarded  as  impractical.  Half  an  hour  after  the 
warrior  had  returned  her  to  her  prison  he  rose  and 
entered  the  hut  where  he  tried  to  engage  in  conver 
sation  with  her.  Groping  across  the  interior  he 
leaned  his  short  spear  against  the  wall  and  sat  down 
beside  her,  and  as  he  talked  he  edged  closer  and 
closer  until  at  last  he  could  reach  out  and  touch  her. 
Shrinking,  she  drew  away. 

"  Do  not  touch  me ! "  she  cried.  "  I  will  tell 
Usanga  if  you  do  not  leave  me  alone  and  you  know 
what  he  will  do  to  you." 

The  man  only  laughed  drunkenly  and  reaching 
out  his  hand  grabbed  her  arm  and  dragged  her 
toward  him.  She  fought  and  cried  aloud  for  Usanga 
and  at  the  same  instant  the  entrance  to  the  hut  was 
darkened  by  the  form  of  a  man. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  shouted  the  newcomer  in 
the  deep  tones  that  the  girl  recognized  as  belonging 
to  the  black  sergeant.  He  had  come ;  but  would  she 
be  any  better  off?  She  knew  that  she  would  not 
unless  she  could  play  upon  Usanga's  fear  of  his 
woman. 

When  Usanga  found  what  had  happened  he 
kicked  the  warrior  out  of  the  hut  and  bade  him 
begone  and  when  the  fellow  had  disappeared,  mut 
tering  and  grumbling,  the  sergeant  approached  the 
white  girl.  He  was  very  drunk,  so  drunk  that  sev 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     141 

eral  times  she  succeeded  in  eluding  him  and  twice 
she  pushed  him  so  violently  away  that  he  stumbled 
and  fell. 

Finally  he  became  enraged  and  rushing  upon  her 
seized  her  in  his  long,  apelike  arms.  Striking  at  his 
face  with  clenched  fists  she  tried  to  protect  herself 
and  drive  him  away.  She  threatened  him  with  the 
wrath  of  Naratu  and  at  that  he  changed  his  tactics 
and  began  to  plead  and  as  he  argued  with  her,  prom 
ising  her  safety  and  eventual  freedom,  the  warrior 
he  had  kicked  out  of  the  hut  made  his  staggering 
way  to  the  hut  occupied  by  Naratu. 

Usanga,  finding  that  pleas  and  promises  were  as 
unavailing  as  threats,  at  last  lost  both  his  patience 
and  his  head,  seizing  the  girl  roughly,  and  simul 
taneously  there  burst  into  the  hut  a  raging  demon 
of  jealousy.  Naratu  had  come.  Kicking,  scratch 
ing,  striking,  biting  she  routed  the  terrified  Usanga 
in  short  order  and  so  obsessed  was  she  by  her  desire 
to  inflict  punishment  upon  her  unfaithful  lord  and 
master  that  she  quite  forgot  the  object  of  his 
infatuation. 

Bertha  Kircher  heard  her  screaming  down  the  vil 
lage  street  at  Usanga's  heels  and  trembled  at  the 
thought  of  what  lay  in  store  for  her  at  the  hands 
of  these  two,  for  she  knew  that  tomorrow  at  the 
latest  Naratu  would  take  out  upon  her  the  full 
measure  of  her  jealous  hatred  after  she  had  spent 
her  first  wrath  upon  Usanga. 

The  two  had  departed  but  a  few  minutes  when 
the  warrior  guard  returned.  He  looked  into  the  hut 


142  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  then  entered.  "  No  one  will  stop  me  now,  white 
woman,"  he  growled  as  he  stepped  quickly  across  the 
hut  toward  her. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  feasting  well  upon  a  juicy 
haunch  from  Bara,  the  deer,  was  vaguely  conscious 
of  a  troubled  mind.  He  should  have  been  at  peace 
with  himself  and  all  the  world,  for  was  he  not  in  his 
native  element  surrounded  by  game  in  plenty  and 
rapidly  filling  his  belly  with  the  flesh  he  loved  best? 
But  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  was  haunted  by  the  picture 
of  a  slight,  young  girl  being  shoved  and  struck  by 
brutal  Negresses,  and  in  imagination  could  see  her 
now  camped  in  this  savage  country  a  prisoner  among 
degraded  blacks. 

Why  was  it  so  difficult  to  remember  that  she  was 
only  a  hated  German  and  a  spy?  Why  would  the 
fact  that  she  was  a  woman  and  white  always  obtrude 
itself  upon  his  consciousness?  He  hated  her  as  he 
hated  all  her  kind,  and  the  fate  that  was  sure  to  be 
hers  was  no  more  terrible  than  she  in  common  with 
all  her  people  deserved.  The  matter  was  settled  and 
Tarzan  composed  himself  to  think  of  other  things, 
yet  the  picture  would  not  die  —  it  rose  in  all  its  de 
tails  and  annoyed  him.  He  began  to  wonder  what 
they  were  doing  to  her  and  where  they  were  taking 
her.  He  was  very  much  ashamed  of  himself  as  he 
had  been  after  the  episode  in  Wilhelmstal  when  his 
weakness  had  permitted  him  to  spare  this  spy's  life. 
Was  he  to  be  thus  weak  again  ?  No ! 

Night  came  and  he  settled  himself  in  an  ample 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     143 

tree  to  rest  until  morning ;  but  sleep  would  not  come. 
Instead  came  the  vision  of  a  white  girl  being  beaten 
by  black  women,  and  again  of  the  same  girl  at  the 
mercy  of  the  warriors  somewhere  in  that  dark  and 
forbidding  jungle. 

With  a  growl  of  anger  and  self-contempt  Tarzan 
arose,  shook  himself  and  swung  from  his  tree  to 
that  adjoining  and  thus,  through  the  lower  ter 
races,  he  followed  the  trail  that  Usanga's  party  had 
taken  earlier  in  the  afternoon.  He  had  little  diffi 
culty  as  the  band  had  followed  a  well-beaten  path 
and  when  toward  midnight  the  stench  of  a  native 
village  assailed  his  delicate  nostrils  he  guessed  that 
his  goal  was  near  and  that  presently  he  should  find 
her  whom  he  sought. 

Prowling  stealthily  as  prowls  Numa,  the  lion, 
stalking  a  wary  prey,  Tarzan  moved  noiselessly 
about  the  palisade,  listening  and  sniffing.  At  the 
rear  of  the  village  he  discovered  a  tree  whose 
branches  extended  over  the  top  of  the  palisade  and 
a  moment  later  he  had  dropped  quietly  into  the 
village. 

From  hut  to  hut  he  went  searching  with  keen  ears 
and  nostrils  some  confirming  evidence  of  the  presence 
of  the  girl  and  at  last,  faint  and  almost  obliterated 
by  the  odor  of  the  Gomangani,  he  found  it  hanging 
like  a  delicate  vapor  about  a  small  hut.  The  village 
was  quiet  now,  for  the  last  of  the  beer  and  the  food 
had  been  disposed  of  and  the  blacks  lay  in  their 
Tmts  overcome  by  stupor,  yet  Tarzan  made  no  noise 
that  even  a  sober  man  keenly  alert  might  have  heard. 


144  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

He  passed  around  to  the  entrance  of  the  hut  and 
listened.  From  within  came  no  sound,  not  even 
the  low  breathing  of  one  awake;  yet  he  was  sure 
that  the  girl  had  been  here  and  perhaps  was  even 
now,  and  so  he  entered,  slipping  in  as  silently  as  a 
disembodied  spirit.  For  a  moment  he  stood  motion 
less  just  within  the  entranceway,  listening.  No, 
there  was  no  one  here,  of  that  he  was  sure,  but  he 
would  investigate.  As  his  eyes  became  accustomed 
to  the  greater  darkness  within  the  hut  an  object 
began  to  take  form  that  presently  outlined  itself 
in  a  human  form  supine  upon  the  floor. 

Tarzan  stepped  closer  and  leaned  over  to  examine 
it  —  it  was  the  dead  body  of  a  naked  warrior  from 
whose  chest  protruded  a  short  spear.  Then  he 
searched  carefully  every  square  foot  of  the  remain 
ing  floor  space  and  at  last  returned  to  the  body 
again  where  he  stooped  and  smelled  of  the  haft  of 
the  weapon  that  had  slain  the  black.  A  slow  smile 
touched  his  lips  —  that  and  a  slight  movement  of  his 
head  betokened  that  he  understood. 

A  rapid  search  of  the  balance  of  the  village  as 
sured  him  that  the  girl  had  escaped  and  a  feeling 
of  relief  came  over  him  that  no  harm  had  befallen 
her.  That  her  life  was  equally  in  jeopardy  in  the 
savage  jungle  to  which  she  must  have  flown  did 
not  impress  him  as  it  would  have  you  or  me,  since 
to  Tarzan  the  jungle  was  not  a  dangerous  place  — 
he  considered  one  safer  there  than  in  Paris  or  Lon 
don  by  night. 

He  had  entered  the  trees  again  and  was  outside 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     145 

the  palisade  when  there  came  faintly  to  his  ears 
from  far  beyond  the  village  an  old,  familiar  sound. 
Balancing  lightly  upon  a  swaying  branch  he  stood, 
a  graceful  statue  of  a  forest  god,  listening  intently. 
For  a  minute  he  stood  thus  and  then  there  broke 
from  his  lips  the  long,  weird  cry  of  ape  calling  to 
ape  and  he  was  away  through  the  jungle  toward  the 
sound  of  the  booming  drum  of  the  anthropoids  leav 
ing  behind  him  an  awakened  and  terrified  village  of 
cringing  blacks,  who  would  forever  after  connect 
that  eerie  cry  with  the  disappearance  of  their  white 
prisoner  and  the  death  of  their  fellow-warrior. 

Bertha  Kircher  hurrying  through  the  jungle  along 
a  well-beaten  game  trail  thought  only  of  putting  as 
much  distance  as  possible  between  herself  and  the 
village  before  daylight  could  permit  pursuit  of  her. 
IWhither  she  was  going  she  did  not  know,  nor  was 
it  a  matter  of  great  moment  since  death  must  be 
her  lot  sooner  or  later. 

Fortune  favored  her  that  night  for  she  passed 
unscathed  through  as  savage  and  lion-ridden  an 
area  as  there  is  in  all  Africa  —  a  natural  hunting 
ground  which  the  white  man  has  not  yet  discovered, 
where  deer  and  antelope  and  zebra,  giraffe  and  ele 
phant,  buffalo,  rhinoceros,  and  the  other  herbivo 
rous  animals  of  central  Africa  abound  unmolested  by 
none  but  their  natural  enemies,  the  great  cats  which, 
lured  here  by  easy  prey  and  immunity  from  the 
rifles  of  big-game  hunters,  swarm  the  district. 

She  had  fled  for  an  hour  or  two,  perhaps,  when 


146  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

her  attention  was  arrested  by  the  sound  of  animals 
moving  about,  muttering  and  growling  close  ahead. 
.Assured  that  she  had  covered  a  sufficient  distance 
to  insure  her  a  good  start  in  the  morning  before 
the  blacks  could  take  to  her  trail,  and  fearful  of 
what  the  creatures  might  be,  she  climbed  into  a  large 
tree  with  the  intention  of  spending  the  balance  of 
the  night  there. 

She  had  no  sooner  reached  a  safe  and  comfortable 
branch  when  she  discovered  that  the  tree  stood  upon 
the  edge  of  a  small  clearing  that  had  been  hidden 
from  her  by  the  heavy  undergrowth  upon  the  ground 
below  and  simultaneously  she  discovered  the  identity 
of  the  beasts  she  had  heard. 

In  the  center  of  the  clearing  below  her,  clearly 
visible  in  the  bright  moonlight,  she  saw  fully  twenty 
huge,  manlike  apes  —  great,  shaggy  fellows  who 
went  upon  their  hind  feet  with  only  slight  assistance 
from  the  knuckles  of  their  hands.  The  moonlight 
glanced  from  their  glossy  coats,  the  numerous  gray- 
tipped  hairs  imparting  a  sheen  that  made  the  hide 
ous  creatures  almost  magnificent  in  their  appearance. 

The  girl  had  watched  them  but  a  minute  or  two 
when  the  little  band  was  joined  by  others,  com 
ing  singly  and  in  groups  until  there  were  fully  fifty 
of  the  great  brutes  gathered  there  in  the  moonlight. 
Among  them  were  young  apes  and  several  little  ones 
clinging  tightly  to  their  mothers'  shaggy  shoulders. 
Presently  the  group  parted  to  form  a  circle  about 
.what  appeared  to  be  a  small,  flat-topped  mound  of 
earth  in  the  center  of  the  clearing.  Squatting  close 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     147 

about  this  mound  were  three  old  females  armed  with 
short,  heavy  clubs  with  which  they  presently  began 
to  pound  upon  the  flat  top  of  the  earth  mound  which 
gave  forth  a  dull,  booming  sound  and  almost  imme 
diately  the  other  apes  commenced  to  move  about 
restlessly,  weaving  in  and  out  aimlessly  until  they 
carried  the  impression  of  a  moving  mass  of  great, 
black  maggots. 

The  beating  of  the  drum  was  in  a  slow,  ponder 
ous  cadence,  at  first  without  time  but  presently  set 
tling  into  a  heavy  rhythm  to  which  the  apes  kept 
time  with  measured  tread  and  swaying  bodies. 
Slowly  the  mass  separated  into  two  rings,  the  outer 
of  which  was  composed  of  shes  and  the  very  young, 
the  inner  of  mature  bulls.  The  former  ceased  to 
move  and  squatted  upon  their  haunches,  while  the 
bulls  now  moved  slowly  about  in  a  circle  the  center 
of  which  was  the  drum  and  all  now  in  the  same 
direction. 

It  was  then  that  there  came  faintly  to  the  ears 
of  the  girl  from  the  direction  of  the  village  she  had 
recently  quitted  a  weird  and  high-pitched  cry.  The 
effect  upon  the  apes  was  electrical  —  they  stopped 
their  movements  and  stood  in  attitudes  of  intent 
listening  for  a  moment  and  then  one  fellow,  huger 
than  his  companions,  raised  his  face  to  the  heavens 
and  in  a  voice  that  sent  the  cold  shudders  through 
the  girl's  slight  frame  answered  the  far-off  cry. 

Once  again  the  beaters  took  up  their  drumming 
and  the  slow  dance  went  on.  There  was  a  certain 
fascination  in  the  savage  ceremony  that  held  the 


148  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

girl  spellbound,  and  as  there  seemed  little  likeli 
hood  of  her  being  discovered,  she  felt  that  she  might 
as  well  remain  the  balance  of  the  night  in  her  tree 
and  resume  her  flight  by  the  comparatively  greater 
safety  of  daylight. 

Assuring  herself  that  her  packet  of  papers  was 
safe  she  sought  as  comfortable  a  position  as  possible 
among  the  branches,  and  settled  herself  to  watch  the 
weird  proceedings  in  the  clearing  below  her. 

A  half-hour  passed  during  which  the  cadence  of 
the  drum  increased  gradually.  Now  the  great  bull 
that  had  replied  to  the  distant  call  leaped  from  the 
inner  circle  to  dance  alone  between  the  drummers 
and  the  other  bulls.  He  leaped  and  crouched  and 
leaped  again,  now  growling  and  barking,  again  stop 
ping  to  raise  his  hideous  face  to  Goro,  the  moon,  and 
beating  upon  his  shaggy  breast  uttered  a  piercing 
scream  —  the  challenge  of  the  bull  ape,  had  the  girl 
but  known  it. 

He  stood  thus  in  the  full  glare  of  the  great  moon, 
motionless  after  screaming  forth  his  weird  challenge, 
in  the  setting  of  the  primeval  jungle  and  the  circling 
apes  a  picture  of  primitive  savagery  and  power  —  a 
mightily  muscled  Hercules  out  of  the  dawn  of  life  — 
when  from  close  behind  her  the  girl  heard  an  answer 
ing  scream,  and  an  instant  later  saw  an  almost  naked 
white  man  drop  from  a  near-by  tree  into  the  clearing. 

Instantly  the  apes  became  a  roaring,  snarling 
pack  of  angry  beasts.  Bertha  Kircher  held  her 
breath.  What  maniac  was  this  who  dared  approach 
these  frightful  creatures  in  their  own  haunts,  alone 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     149 

against  fifty?  She  saw  the  brown-skinned  figure 
bathed  in  moonlight  walk  straight  toward  the  snarl 
ing  pack.  She  saw  the  symmetry  and  the  beauty  of 
that  perfect  body  —  its  grace,  its  strength,  its 
wondrous  proportioning,  and  then  she  recognized 
him.  It  was  the  same  creature  whom  she  had  seen 
carry  Major  Schneider  from  General  Kraut's  head 
quarters,  the  same  who  had  rescued  her  from  Numa, 
the  lion;  the  same  whom  she  had  struck  down  with 
the  butt  of  her  pistol  and  escaped  when  he  would 
have  returned  her  to  her  enemies,  the  same  who  had 
slain  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider  and  spared  her  life 
that  night  in  Wilhelmstal. 

Fear-filled  and  fascinated  she  watched  him  as  he 
reared  the  apes.  She  heard  sounds  issue  from  his 
throat  —  sounds  identical  with  those  uttered  by  the 
apes  —  and  though  she  could  scarce  believe  the  testi 
mony  of  her  own  ears,  she  knew  that  this  godlike 
creature  was  conversing  with  the  brutes  in  their  own 
tongue. 

Tarzan  halted  just  before  he  reached  the  shes  of 
the  outer  circle.  "  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes ! "  he 
cried.  "You  do  not  know  me  because  I  am  of 
another  tribe;  but  Tarzan  comes  in  peace  or  he 
comes  to  fight  —  which  shall  it  be?  Tarzan  will  talk 
with  your  king,"  and  so  saying  he  pushed  straight 
forward  through  the  shes  and  the  young  who  now 
gave  way  before  him,  making  a  narrow  lane  through 
which  he  passed  toward  the  inner  circle. 

Shes  with  balus  growled  and  bristled  as  he  passed 
close,  but  none  hindered  him  and  thus  he  came  to  the 


150  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

inner  circle  of  bulls.  Here  bared  fangs  menaced  him 
and  growling  faces  hideously  contorted.  "I  -am 
Tarzan,"  he  repeated.  "  Tarzan  comes  to  dance  the 
Dum-Dum  with  his  brothers.  Where  is  your  king?" 
Again  he  pressed  forward  and  the  girl  in  the  tree 
clapped  her  palms  to  her  cheeks  as  she  watched, 
wide-eyed,  this  madman  going  to  a  frightful  death. 
In  another  instant  they  would  be  upon  him,  rending 
and  tearing  until  that  perfect  form  had  been  ripped 
to  shreds ;  but  again  the  ring  parted  and  though 
the  apes  roared  and  menaced  him  they  did  not  attack 
and  at  last  he  stood  in  the  inner  circle  close  to  the 
drum  and  faced  the  great  king  ape. 

Again  he  spoke.  "I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes," 
he  cried.  "Tarzan  comes  to  live  with  his  brothers. 
He  will  come  in  peace  and  live  in  peace  or  he  will 
kill;  but  he  has  come  and  he  will  stay.  Which  — 
shall  Tarzan  dance  the  Dum-Dum  in  peace  with  his 
brothers,  or  shall  Tarzan  kill  first?" 

"I  am  Go-lat,  King  of  the  Apes,"  screamed  the 
great  bull.  "I  kill!  I  kill!  I  kill!"  and  with  a 
sullen  roar  he  charged  the  Tarmangani. 

The  ape-man,  as  the  girl  watched  him,  seemed 
entirely  unprepared  for  the  charge  and  she  looked  to 
see  him  borne  down  and  slain  at  the  first  rush.  The 
great  bull  was  almost  upon  him  with  huge  hands 
outstretched  to  seize  him  before  Tarzan  made  a 
move;  but  when  he  did  move  his  quickness  would 
have  put  Ara,  the  lightning,  to  shame.  As  darts 
forward  the  head  of  Histah,  the  snake,  so  darted 
forward  the  left  hand  of  the  man-beast  as  he  seized 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES     151 

the  left  wrist  of  his  antagonist.  A  quick  turn  and 
the  bull's  right  arm  was  locked  beneath  the  right 
arm  of  his  foe  in  a  jujutsu  hold  that  Tarzan  had 
learned  among  civilized  men  —  a  hold  with  which  he 
might  easily  break  the  great  bones,  a  hold  that  left 
the  ape  helpless. 

"  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes ! "  screamed  the  ape- 
man.  "  Shall  Tarzan  dance  in  peace  or  shall  Tar 
zan  kill?" 

"  I  kill !    I  kill !    I  kill ! "  shrieked  Go-lat. 

With  the  quickness  of  a  cat  Tarzan  swung  the 
king  ape  over  one  hip  and  sent  him  sprawling  to  the 
ground.  "  I  am  Tarzan,  King  of  all  the  Apes  ! "  he 
shouted.  "  Shall  it  be  peace  ?" 

Go-lat,  infuriated,  leaped  to  his  feet  and  charged 
again,  shouting  his  war  cry:  "I  kill!  I  kill!  I 
kill !  "  and  again  Tarzan  met  him  with  a  sudden  hold 
that  the  stupid  bull,  being  ignorant  of,  could  not 
possibly  avert  —  a  hold  and  a  throw  that  brought 
a  scream  of  delight  from  the  interested  audience  and 
suddenly  filled  the  girl  with  doubts  as  to  the  man's 
madness  —  evidently  he  was  quite  safe  among  the 
apes,  for  she  saw  him  swing  Go-lat  to  his  back  and 
then  catapult  him  over  his  shoulder.  The  king  ape 
fell  upon  his  head  and  lay  very  still. 

"  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes ! "  cried  the  ape-man. 
"I  come  to  dance  the  Dum-Dum  with  my  brothers," 
and  he  made  a  motion  to  the  drummers  who  imme 
diately  took  up  the  cadence  of  the  dance  where  they 
had  dropped  it  to  watch  their  king  slay  the  foolish 
Tarmangani. 


152  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

It  was  then  that  Go-lat  raised  his  head  and  slowly 
crawled  to  his  feet.  Tarzan  approached  him.  "  I 
am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,"  he  cried.  "  Shall  Tarzan 
dance  the  Dum-Dum  with  his  brothers  now,  or  shall 
he  kill  first?" 

Go-lat  raised  his  bloodshot  eyes  to  the  face  of  the 
Tarmangani.  "  Kagoda!  "  he  cried  "  Tarzan  of  the 
Apes  will  dance  the  Dum-Dum  with  his  brothers  and 
Go-lat  will  dance  with  him!" 

And  then  the  girl  in  the  tree  saw  the  savage  man 
leaping,  bending,  and  stamping  with  the  savage  apes 
in  the  ancient  rite  of  the  Dum-Dum.  His  roars  and 
growls  were  more  beastly  than  the  beasts.  His 
handsome  face  was  distorted  with  savage  ferocity. 
He  beat  upon  his  great  breast  and  screamed  forth 
his  challenge  as  his  smooth,  brown  hide  brushed  the 
shaggy  coats  of  his  fellows.  It  was  weird;  it  was 
wonderful;  and  in  its  primitive  savagery  it  was 
not  without  beauty  —  the  strange  scene  she  looked 
upon,  such  a  scene  as  no  other  human  being,  prob 
ably,  ever  had  witnessed  —  and  yet,  withal,  it  was 
horrible. 

As  she  gazed,  spell-bound,  a  stealthy  movement  in 
the  tree  behind  her  caused  her  to  turn  her  head  and 
there,  back  of  her,  blazing  in  the  reflected  moon 
light  shone  two  great,  yellow-green  eyes.  Sheeta, 
the  panther,  had  found  her  out. 

The  beast  was  so  close  that  it  might  have  reached 
out  and  touched  her  with  a  great,  taloned  paw. 
There  was  no  time  to  think,  no  time  to  weigh  chances 
or  to  choose  alternatives.  Terror-inspired  impulse 


TARZAN  AND  THE  GREAT  APES      153 

was  her  guide  as,  with  a  loud  scream,  she  leaped  from 
the  tree  into  the  clearing. 

Instantly  the  apes,  now  maddened  by  the  effects 
of  the  dancing  and  the  moonlight,  turned  to  note  the 
cause  of  the  interruption.  They  saw  this  she  Tar- 
mangani,  helpless  and  alone  and  they  started  for 
her.  Sheeta,  the  panther,  knowing  that  not  even 
Numa,  the  lion,  unless  maddened  by  starvation,  dares 
meddle  with  the  great  apes  at  their  Dum-Dum,  had 
silently  vanished  into  the  night,  seeking  his  supper 
elsewhere. 

Tarzan,  turning  with  the  other  apes  toward  the 
cause  of  the  interruption,  saw  the  girl,  recognized 
her  and  also  her  peril.  Here  again  might  she  die 
at  the  hands  of  others;  but  why  consider  it!  He 
knew  that  he  could  not  permit  it,  and  though  the 
acknowledgment  shamed  him,  it  had  to  be  admitted. 

The  leading  shes  were  almost  upon  the  girl  when 
Tarzan  leaped  among  them,  and  with  heavy  blows 
scattered  them  to  right  and  left;  and  then  as  the 
bulls  came  to  share  in  the  kill  they  thought  this  new 
ape-thing  was  about  to  make  that  he  might  steal  all 
the  flesh  for  himself,  they  found  him  facing  them 
with  an  arm  thrown  about  the  creature  as  though  to 
protect  her. 

"This  is  Tarzan's  she,"  he  said.  "Do  not  harm 
her."  It  was  the  only  way  he  could  make  them 
understand  that  they  must  not  slay  her.  He  was 
glad  that  she  could  not  interpret  the  words.  It  was 
humiliating  enough  to  make  such  a  statement  to  wild 
apes  about  this  hated  enemy. 


154  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

So  once  again  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  was  forced  to 
protect  a  Hun.  Growling,  he  muttered  to  himself 
in  extenuation: 

"  She  is  a  woman  and  I  am  not  a  German,  so  it 
could  not  be  otherwise ! " 


CHAPTER  IX 

DROPPED   FROM   THE   SKY 

LtEUTENANT  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick, 
Royal  Air  Service,  was  on  reconnaissance.  A 
report,  or  it  would  be  better  to  say  a  rumor,  had 
come  to  the  British  headquarters  in  German  East 
Africa  that  the  enemy  had  landed  in  force  on  the 
west  coast  and  was  marching  across  the  dark  conti 
nent  to  reinforce  their  colonial  troops.  In  fact  the 
new  army  was  supposed  to  be  no  more  than  ten  or 
twelve  days  march  to  the  west.  Of  course  the  thing 
was  ridiculous  —  preposterous — but  preposterous 
things  often  happen  in  war;  and  anyway  no  good 
general  permits  the  least  rumor  of  enemy  activity 
to  go  uninvestigated. 

Therefore  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Old 
wick  flew  low  toward  the  west  searching  with  keen 
eyes  for  signs  of  a  Hun  army.  Vast  forests  unrolled 
beneath  him  in  which  a  German  army  corps  might 
have  lain  concealed,  so  dense  was  the  overhanging 
foliage  of  the  great  trees.  Mountain,  meadowland, 
and  desert  passed  in  lovely  panorama;  but  never  a 
sight  of  man  had  the  young  lieutenant. 

Always  hoping  that  he  might  discover  some  sign 
of  their  passage  —  a  discarded  lorry,  a  broken  lim- 

155 


156  TARZAN  TEE  UNTAMED 

her,  or  an  old  camp  site  —  he  continued  farther  and 
farther  into  the  west  until  well  into  the  afternoon, 
above  a  tree-dotted  plain  through  the  center  of 
which  flowed  a  winding  river,  he  determined  to  turn 
about  and  start  for  camp.  It  would  take  straight 
flying  at  top  speed  to  cover  the  distance  before  dark ; 
but  as  he  had  ample  gasoline  and  a  trustworthy 
machine  there  was  no  doubt  in  his  mind  but  that 
he  could  accomplish  his  aim.  It  was  then  that  his 
engine  stalled. 

He  was  too  low  to  do  anything  but  land  and 
that  immediately  while  he  had  the  more  open  coun 
try  accessible,  for  directly  east  of  him  was  a  vast 
forest  into  which  a  stalled  engine  could  only  have 
plunged  him  to  certain  injury  and  probable  death; 
and  so  he  came  down  in  the  meadowland  near  the 
winding  river  and  there  started  to  tinker  with  his 
motor. 

As  he  worked  he  hummed  a  tune,  some  music-hall 
air  that  had  been  popular  in  London  the  year  before, 
so  that  one  might  have  thought  him  working  in  the 
security  of  an  English  flying  field  surrounded  by 
innumerable  comrades  rather  than  alone  in  the  heart 
of  an  unexplored  African  wilderness.  It  was  typical 
of  the  man  that  he  should  be  wholly  indifferent 
to  his  surroundings,  although  his  looks  entirely 
belied  any  assumption  that  he  was  of  particularly 
heroic  strain. 

Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  was  fair- 
haired,  blue-eyed,  and  slender,  with  a  rosy,  boyish 
face  that  might  have  been  molded  more  by  an  envi- 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  157 

ronment  of  luxury,  indolence,  and  ease  than  the 
more  strenuous  exigencies  of  life's  sterner  require 
ments. 

And  not  only  was  the  young  lieutenant  outwardly 
careless  of  the  immediate  future  and  of  his  sur 
roundings,  but  actually  so.  That  the  district  might 
be  infested  by  countless  enemies  seemed  not  to  have 
occurred  to  him  in  the  remotest  degree.  He  bent 
assiduously  to  the  work  of  correcting  the  adjustment 
that  had  caused  his  motor  to  stall  without  so  much 
as  an  upward  glance  at  the  surrounding  country. 
The  forest  to  the  east  of  him,  and  the  more  distant 
jungle  that  bordered  the  winding  river,  might  have 
harbored  an  army  of  bloodthirsty  savages,  but 
neither  could  elicit  even  a  passing  show  of  interest 
on  the  part  of  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick. 

And  even  had  he  looked,  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would 
have  seen  the  score  of  figures  crouching  in  the  con 
cealment  of  the  undergrowth  at  the  forest's  edge. 
There  are  those  who  are  reputed  to  be  endowed  with 
that  which  is  sometimes,  for  want  of  a  better  appella 
tion,  known  as  the  sixth  sense  —  a  species  of  intui 
tion  which  apprises  them  of  the  presence  of  an  unseen 
danger.  The  concentrated  gaze  of  a  hidden  observer 
provokes  a  warning  sensation  of  nervous  unrest  in 
such  as  these,  but  though  twenty  pairs  of  savage 
eyes  were  gazing  fixedly  at  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy 
Smith-Oldwick,  the  fact  aroused  no  responsive  sen 
sation  of  impending  danger  in  his  placid  breast. 
He  hummed  peacefully  and,  his  adjustment  com 
pleted,  tried  out  his  motor  for  a  minute  or  two, 


158  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

then  shut  it  off  and  descended  to  the  ground  with  the 
intention  of  stretching  his  legs  and  taking  a  smoke 
before  continuing  his  return  flight  to  camp.  Now 
for  the  first  time  he  took  note  of  his  surroundings 
to  be  immediately  impressed  by  both  the  wildness 
and  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  In  some  respects  the 
tree-dotted  meadowland  reminded  him  of  a  parklike 
English  forest,  and  that  wild  beasts  and  savage  men 
could  ever  be  a  part  of  so  quiet  a  scene  seemed  the 
remotest  of  contingencies. 

Some  gorgeous  blooms  upon  a  flowering  shrub 
at  a  little  distance  from  his  machine  caught  the 
attention  of  his  aesthetic  eye  and  as  he  puffed  upon 
his  cigarette,  he  walked  over  to  examine  the  flowers 
more  closely.  As  he  bent  above  them  he  was  prob 
ably  some  hundred  yards  from  his  plane  and  it  was 
at  this  instant  that  Numabo,  chief  of  the  Wamabo, 
chose  to  leap  from  his  ambush  and  lead  his  warriors 
in  a  sudden  rush  upon  the  white  man. 

The  young  Englishman's  first  intimation  of 
danger  was  a  chorus  of  savage  yells  from  the  forest 
behind  him.  Turning,  he  saw  a  score  of  naked,  black 
warriors  advancing  rapidly  toward  him.  They 
moved  in  a  compact  mass  and  as  they  approached 
more  closely  their  rate  of  speed  noticeably 
diminished.  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  realized  in 
a  quick  glance  that  the  direction  of  their  approach 
and  their  proximity  had  cut  off  all  chances  of  re 
treating  to  his  plane,  and  he  also  understood  that 
their  attitude  was  entirely  warlike  and  menacing. 
He  saw  that  they  were  armed  with  spears  and  with 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  159 

bows  and  arrows,  and  he  felt  quite  confident  that 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  was  armed  with  a 
pistol,  they  could  overcome  him  with  the  first  rush. 
What  he  did  not  know  about  their  tactics  was  that 
at  any  show  of  resistance  they  would  fall  back, 
which  is  the  nature  of  the  native  Negroes  but  that 
after  numerous  advances  and  retreats,  during  which 
they  would  work  themselves  into  a  frenzy  of  rage  by 
much  shrieking,  leaping,  and  dancing,  they  would 
eventually  come  to  the  point  of  a  determined  and 
final  assault.  ». 

Numabo  was  in  the  forefront,  a  fact  which  taken 
in  connection  with  his  considerably  greater  size  and 
more  warlike  appearance,  indicated  him  as  the  nat 
ural  target  and  it  was  at  Numabo  that  the  English 
man  aimed  his  first  shot.  Unfortunately  for  him  it 
missed  its  target,  as  the  killing  of  the  chief  might 
have  permanently  dispersed  the  others.  The  bullet 
passed  Numabo  to  lodge  in  the  breast  of  a  warrior 
behind  him  and  as  the  fellow  lunged  forward  with  a 
scream  the  others  turned  and  retreated,  but  to  the 
lieutenant's  chagrin  they  ran  in  the  direction  of  the 
plane  instead  of  back  toward  the  forest  so  that  he 
was  still  cut  off  from  reaching  his  machine. 

Presently  they  stopped  and  faced  him  again. 
They  were  talking  loudly  and  gesticulating,  and 
after  a  moment  one  of  them  leaped  into  the  air, 
brandishing  his  spear  and  uttering  savage  war  cries, 
which  soon  had  their  effect  upon  his  fellows  so  that 
it  was  not  long  ere  all  of  them  were  taking  part  in 
the  wild  show  of  savagery,  which  would  bolster  their 


160  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

waning  courage  and  presently  spur  them  on  to  an 
other  attack. 

The  second  charge  brought  them  closer  to  the 
Englishman,  and  though  he  dropped  another  with 
his  pistol,  it  was  not  before  two  or  three  spears 
had  been  launched  at  him.  He  now  had  five  shots 
remaining  and  there  were  still  eighteen  warriors  to 
be  accounted  for,  so  that  unless  he  could  frighten 
them  off,  it  was  evident  that  his  fate  was  sealed. 

That  they  must  pay  the  price  of  one  life  for  every 
attempt  to  take  his  had  its  effect  upon  them  and 
they  were  longer  now  in  initiating  a  new  rush  and 
when  they  did  so  it  was  more  skilfully  ordered  than 
those  that  had  preceded  it,  for  they  scattered  into 
three  bands  which  partially  surrounding  him,  came 
simultaneously  toward  him  from  different  directions, 
and  though  he  emptied  his  pistol  with  good  effect, 
they  reached  him  at  last.  They  seemed  to  know  that 
his  ammunition  was  exhausted,  for  they  circled  close 
about  him  now  with  the  evident  intention  of  taking 
him  alive,  since  they  might  easily  have  riddled  him 
with  their  sharp  spears  with  perfect  safety  to  them 
selves. 

For  two  or  three  minutes  they  circled  about  him 
until  at  a  word  from  Numabo,  they  closed  in  simul 
taneously  and  though  the  slender  young  lieutenant 
struck  out  to  right  and  left,  he  was  soon  over 
whelmed  by  superior  numbers  and  beaten  down  by 
the  hafts  of  spears  in  brawny  hands. 

He  was  all  but  unconscious  when  they  finally  drag 
ged  him  to  his  feet,  and  after  securing  his  hands 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  161 

behind  his  back,  pushed  him  roughly  along  ahead 
of  them  toward  the  jungle. 

As  the  guard  prodded  him  along  the  narrow  trail, 
Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  could  not  but  wonder  why 
they  had  wished  to  take  him  alive.  He  knew  that 
he  was  too  far  inland  for  his  uniform  to  have  any 
significance  to  this  native  tribe  to  whom  no  inkling 
of  the  World  War  probably  ever  had  come,  and  he 
could  only  assume  that  he  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  warriors  of  some  savage  potentate  upon  whose 
royal  caprice  his  fate  would  hinge. 

They  had  marched  for  perhaps  half  an  hour  when 
the  Englishman  saw  ahead  of  them  in  a  little  clear 
ing  upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  the  thatched  roofs 
of  native  huts  showing  above  a  crude  but  strong 
palisade;  and  presently  he  was  ushered  into  a  vil 
lage  street  where  he  was  immediately  surrounded  by 
a  throng  of  women  and  children  and  warriors.  Here 
he  was  soon  the  center  of  an  excited  mob  whose 
intent  seemed  to  be  to  dispatch  him  as  quickly  as 
possible.  The  women  were  more  venomous  than  the 
men,  striking  and  scratching  him  whenever  they 
could  reach  him  until  at  last  Numabo,  the  chief, 
was  obliged  to  interfere  to  save  his  prisoner  for 
whatever  purpose  he  was  destined. 

sAs  the  warriors  pushed  the  crowd  back,  opening 
a  space  through  which  the  white  man  was  led  toward 
a  hut,  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  saw  coming  from 
the  opposite  end  of  the  village  a  number  of  Negroes 
wearing  odds  and  ends  of  German  uniforms.  He  was 
not  a  little  surprised  at  this,  and  his  first  thought 


162  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

was  that  he  had  at  last  come  in  contact  with  some 
portion  of  the  army  which  was  rumored  to  be  cross 
ing  from  the  west  coast  and  for  signs  of  which  he 
had  been  searching. 

A  rueful  smile  touched  his  lips  as  he  contemplated 
the  unhappy  circumstances  which  surrounded  the 
accession  of  this  knowledge  for  though  he  was  far 
from  being  without  hope,  he  realized  that  only  by 
the  merest  chance  could  he  escape  these  people  and 
regain  his  machine. 

Among  the  partially  uniformed  blacks  was  a  huge 
fellow  in  the  tunic  of  a  sergeant  and  as  this  man's 
eyes  fell  upon  the  British  officer,  a  loud  cry  of  ex 
ultation  broke  from  his  lips,  and  immediately  his  fol 
lowers  took  up  the  cry  and  pressed  forward  to  bait 
the  prisoner. 

"Where  did  you  get  the  Englishman?"  asked 
Usanga,  the  black  sergeant,  of  the  chief  Numabo. 
"Are  there  many  more  with  him?" 

"  He  came  down  from  the  sky,"  replied  the  native 
chief,  "  in  a  strange  thing  which  flies  like  a  bird  and 
which  frightened  us  very  much  at  first;  but  we 
watched  for  a  long  time  and  saw  that  it  did  not 
seem  to  be  alive,  and  when  this  white  man  left  it 
we  attacked  him  and  though  he  killed  some  of  my 
warriors,  we  took  him,  for  we  Wamabos  are  brave 
men  and  great  warriors." 

Usanga's  eyes  went  wide.  "  He  flew  here  through 
the  sky?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  Numabo.  "In  a  great  thing  which 
resembled  a  bird  he  flew  down  out  of  the  sky.  The 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  163 

thing  is  still  there  where  it  came  down  close  to  the 
four  trees  near  the  second  bend  in  the  river.  We 
left  it  there  because,  not  knowing  what  it  was, 
we  were  afraid  to  touch  it  and  it  is  still  there  if  it 
has  not  flown  away  again." 

"It  cannot  fly,"  said  Usanga,  "without  this  man 
in  it.  It  is  a  terrible  thing  which  filled  the  hearts 
of  our  soldiers  with  terror,  for  it  flew  over  our 
camps  at  night  and  dropped  bombs  upon  us.  It  is 
well  that  you  captured  this  white  man,  Numabo,  for 
with  his  great  bird  he  would  have  flown  over  your 
village  tonight  and  killed  all  your  people.  These 
Englishmen  are  very  wicked  white  men." 

"  He  will  fly  no  more,"  said  Numabo.  "  It  is  not 
intended  that  a  man  should  fly  through  the  air ;  only 
wicked  demons  do  such  things  as  that  and  Numabo, 
the  chief,  will  see  that  this  white  man  does  not  do  it 
again,"  and  with  the  words  he  pushed  the  young  offi 
cer  roughly  toward  a  hut  in  the  center  of  the  village 
where  he  was  left  under  guard  of  two  stalwart 
warriors. 

For  an  hour  or  more  the  prisoner  was  left  to  his 
own  devices,  which  consisted  in  vain  and  unremitting 
attempts  to  loosen  the  strands  which  fettered  his 
wrists,  and  then  he  was  interrupted  by  the  appear 
ance  of  the  black  sergeant  Usanga,  who  entered  his 
hut  and  approached  him. 

"  What  are  they  going  to  do  with  me  ?  "  asked  the 
Englishman.  "  My  country  is  not  at  war  with  these 
people.  You  speak  their  language.  Tell  them  that 
I  am  not  an  enemy,  that  my  people  are  the  friends 


164  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  the  black  people  and  that  they  must  let  me  go 
in  peace." 

Usanga  laughed.  "  They  do  not  know  an  English 
man  from  a  German,"  he  replied.  "  It  is  nothing  to 
them  what  you  are,  except  that  you  are  a  white 
man  and  an  enemy." 

"Then  why  did  they  take  me  alive?"  asked  the 
lieutenant. 

"  Come,"  said  Usanga  and  he  led  the  Englishman 
to  the  doorway  of  the  hut.  "Look,"  he  said,  and 
pointed  a  black  forefinger  toward  the  end  of  the  vil 
lage  street  where  a  wider  space  between  the  huts  left 
a  sort  of  plaza. 

Here  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  saw 
a  number  of  Negresses  engaged  in  laying  fagots 
around  a  stake  and  in  preparing  fires  beneath  a 
number  of  large  cooking  vessels.  The  sinister  sug 
gestion  was  only  too  obvious. 

Usanga  was  eyeing  the  white  man  closely,  but  if 
he  expected  to  be  rewarded  by  any  signs  of  fear, 
he  was  doomed  to  disappointment  and  the  young 
lieutenant  merely  turned  toward  him  with  a  shrug: 
"  Really  now,  do  you  beggars  intend  eating  me  ?  " 

"Not  my  people,"  replied  Usanga.  "We  do  not 
eat  human  flesh,  but  the  Wamabos  do.  It  is  they 
who  will  eat  you,  but  we  will  kill  you  for  the  feast, 
Englishman." 

The  Englishman  remained  standing  in  the  door 
way  of  the  hut,  an  interested  spectator  of  the  prep 
arations  for  the  coming  orgy  that  was  so  horribly 
to  terminate  his  earthly  existence.  It  can  hardly  be 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  165 

assumed  that  he  felt  no  fear,  yet  if  he  did,  he  hid  it 
perfectly  beneath  an  imperturbable  mask  of  coolness. 
Even  the  brutal  Usanga  must  have  been  impressed 
by  the  bravery  of  his  victim  since,  though  he  had 
come  to  abuse  and  possibly  to  torture  the  helpless 
prisoner,  he  now  did  neither  contenting  himself 
merely  with  berating  whites  as  a  race,  and  English 
men  especially,  because  of  the  terror  the  British 
aviators  had  caused  Germany's  native  troops  in  East 
Africa. 

"No  more,"  he  concluded,  "will  your  great  bird 
fly  over  our  people  dropping  death  among  them  from 
the  skies  —  Usanga  will  see  to  that,"  and  he  walked 
abruptly  away  toward  a  group  of  his  own  fighting 
men  who  were  congregated  near  the  stake  where  they 
were  laughing  and  joking  with  the  women. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  Englishman  saw  them  pass 
out  of  the  village  gate,  and  once  again  his  thoughts 
reverted  to  various  futile  plans  for  escape. 

Several  miles  north  of  the  village  on  a  little  rise 
of  ground  close  to  the  river  where  the  jungle,  halting 
at  the  base  of  a  knoll,  had  left  a  few  acres  of  grassy 
land  sparsely  wooded,  a  man  and  a  girl  were  busily 
engaged  in  constructing  a  small  boma  in  the  center 
of  which  a  thatched  hut  already  had  been  erected. 

They  worked  almost  in  silence  with  only  an  occa 
sional  word  of  direction  or  interrogation  between 
them. 

Except  for  a  loin  cloth,  the  man  was  naked,  his 
smooth  skin  tanned  to  a  deep  brown  by  the  action 


166  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  sun  and  wind.  He  moved  with  the  graceful  ease 
of  a  jungle  cat  and  when  he  lifted  heavy  weights,  the 
action  seemed  as  effortless  as  the  raising  of  empty 
hands. 

When  he  was  not  looking  at  her  and  it  was  seldom 
that  he  did,  the  girl  found  her  eyes  wandering  toward 
him  and  at  such  times  there  was  always  a  puzzled 
expression  upon  her  face  as  though  she  found  in  him 
an  enigma  which  she  could  not  solve.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  her  feelings  toward  him  were  not  untinged 
with  awe,  since  in  the  brief  period  of  their  association 
she  had  discovered  in  this  handsome,  godlike  giant 
the  attributes  of  the  superman  and  the  savage  beast 
closely  intermingled.  At  first  she  had  felt  only  that 
unreasoning  feminine  terror  which  her  unhappy 
position  naturally  induced. 

To  be  alone  in  the  heart  of  an  unexplored  wilder 
ness  of  Central  Africa  with  a  savage  wild  man  was 
in  itself  sufficiently  appalling  but  to  feel  also  that 
this  man  was  a  blood  enemy,  that  he  hated  her  and 
her  kind  and  that  in  addition  thereto  he  owed  her 
a  personal  grudge  for  an  attack  she  had  made  upon 
him  in  the  past,  left  no  loophole  for  any  hope  that 
he  might  accord  her  even  the  minutest  measure  of 
consideration. 

She  had  seen  him  first  months  since  when  he  had 
entered  the  headquarters  of  the  German  high  com 
mand  in  East  Africa  and  carried  off  the  luckless 
Major  Schneider,  of  whose  fate  no  hint  had  ever 
reached  the  German  officers ;  and  she  had  seen  him 
again  upon  that  occasion  when  he  had  rescued  her 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  167 

from  the  clutches  of  the  lion  and  after  explaining  to 
her  that  he  had  recognized  her  in  the  British  camp, 
had  made  her  prisoner.  It  was  then  that  she  had 
struck  him  down  with  the  butt  of  her  pistol  and  es 
caped.  That  he  might  seek  no  personal  revenge 
for  her  act,  had  been  evidenced  in  Wilhelmstal  the 
night  that  he  had  killed  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider 
and  left  without  molesting  her. 

No,  she  could  not  fathom  him.  He  hated  her  and 
at  the  same  time  he  had  protected  her  as  had  been 
evidenced  again  when  he  had  kept  the  great  apes 
from  tearing  her  to  pieces  after  she  had  escaped 
from  the  Wamabo  village  to  which  Usanga,  the  black 
sergeant,  had  brought  her  a  captive;  but  why  was 
he  saving  her?  For  what  sinister  purpose  could  this 
savage  enemy  be  protecting  her  from  the  other  deni 
zens  of  his  cruel  jungle.  She  tried  to  put  from  her 
mind  the  probable  fate  which  awaited  her,  yet  it 
persisted  in  obtruding  itself  upon  her  thoughts, 
though  always  she  was  forced  to  admit  that  there 
was  nothing  in  the  demeanor  of  the  man  to  indicate 
that  her  fears  were  well  grounded.  She  judged  him 
perhaps  by  the  standards  other  men  had  taught  her 
and  because  she  looked  upon  him  as  a  savage  crea 
ture,  she  felt  that  she  could  not  expect  more  of 
chivalry  from  him  than  was  to  be  found  in  the 
breasts  of  the  civilized  men  of  her  acquaintance. 

Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher  was  by  nature  a  com 
panionable  and  cheerful  character.  She  was  not 
given  to  morbid  forebodings  and  above  all  things, 
she  craved  the  society  of  her  kind  and  that  inter- 


168  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

change  of  thought  which  is  one  of  the  marked  dis 
tinctions  between  man  and  the  lower  animals. 
Tarzan,  on  the  other  hand,  was  sufficient  unto  him 
self.  Long  years  of  semi-solitude  among  creatures 
whose  powers  of  oral  expression  are  extremely 
limited,  had  thrown  him  almost  entirely  upon  his 
own  resources  for  entertainment. 

His  active  mind  was  never  idle,  but  because  his 
jungle  mates  could  neither  follow  nor  grasp  the  vivid 
train  of  imaginings  that  his  man-mind  wrought,  he 
had  long  since  learned  to  keep  them  to  himself;  and 
so  now  he  found  no  need  for  confiding  them  in  others. 
This  fact,  linked  with  that  of  his  dislike  for  the 
girl,  was  sufficient  to  seal  his  lips  for  other  than 
necessary  conversation,  and  so  they  worked  on  to 
gether  in  comparative  silence.  Bertha  Kircher, 
however,  was  nothing  if  not  feminine  and  she  soon 
found  that  having  someone  to  talk  to  who  would  not 
talk  was  extremely  irksome.  Her  fear  of  the  man 
was  gradually  departing,  and  she  was  full  of  a 
thousand  unsatisfied  curiosities  as  to  his  plans  for 
the  future  in  so  far  as  they  related  to  her,  as  well 
as  more  personal  questions  regarding  himself,  since 
she  could  net  but  wonder  as  to  his  antecedents  and 
his  strange  and  solitary  life  in  the  jungle,  as  well 
as  his  friendly  intercourse  with  the  savage  apes 
among  which  she  had  found  him. 

With  the  waning  of  her  fears  she  became  suffi 
ciently  emboldened  to  question  him,  and  so  she  asked 
him  what  he  intended  doing  after  the  hut  and  boma 
were  completed. 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  169 

"  I  am  going  to  the  west  coast  where  I  was  born," 
replied  Tarzan.  "I  do  not  know  when.  I  have  all 
my  life  before  me  and  in  the  jungle  there  is  no 
reason  for  haste.  We  are  not  forever  running  as 
fast  as  we  can  from  one  place  to  another  as  are 
you  of  the  outer  world.  When  I  have  been  here 
long  enough  I  will  go  on  toward  the  west,  but  first 
I  must  see  that  you  have  a  safe  place  in  which  to 
sleep,  and  that  you  have  learned  how  to  provide 
yourself  with  necessaries.  That  will  take  time." 

"You  are  going  to  leave  me  here  alone?"  cried 
the  girl;  her  tones  marked  the  fear  which  the  pros 
pect  induced.  "You  are  going  to  leave  me  here 
alone  in  this  terrible  jungle,  a  prey  to  wild  beasts 
and  savage  men,  hundreds  of  miles  from  a  white  set 
tlement  and  in  a  country  which  gives  every  evidence 
of  never  having  been  touched  by  the  foot  of  civilized 
man?" 

"Why  not?"  asked  Tarzan.  "I  did  not  bring 
you  here.  Would  one  of  your  men  accord  any  bet 
ter  treatment  to  an  enemy  woman?" 

"Yes,"  she  exclaimed.  "They  certainly  would. 
No  man  of  my  race  would  leave  a  defenseless  white 
woman  alone  in  this  horrible  place." 

Tarzan  shrugged  his  broad  shoulders.  The  con 
versation  seemed  profitless  and  it  was  further  dis 
tasteful  to  him  for  the  reason  that  it  was  carried 
on  in  German,  a  tongue  which  he  detested  as  much 
as  the  people  who  spoke  it.  He  wished  that  the 
girl  spoke  English  and  then  it  occurred  to  him  that 
as  he  had  seen  her  in  disguise  in  the  British  camp 


170  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

carrying  on  her  nefarious  work  as  a  German  spy, 
she  probably  did  speak  English  and  so  he  asked  her. 

"  Of  course  I  speak  English,"  she  exclaimed,  "  but 
I  did  not  know  that  you  did." 

Tarzan  looked  his  wonderment  but  made  no  com 
ment.  He  only  wondered  why  the  girl  should  have 
any  doubts  as  to  the  ability  of  an  Englishman  to 
speak  English,  and  then  suddenly  it  occurred  to  him 
that  she  probably  looked  upon  him  merely  as  a  beast 
of  the  jungle  who  by  accident  had  learned  to  speak 
German  through  frequenting  the  district  which  Ger 
many  had  colonized.  It  was  there  only  that  she 
had  seen  him  and  so  she  might  not  know  that  he 
was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and  that  he  had  had 
a  home  in  British  East  Africa.  It  was  as  well,  he 
thought,  that  she  knew  little  of  him,  as  the  less  she 
knew  the  more  he  might  learn  from  her  as  to  her 
activities  in  behalf  of  the  Germans  and  of  the  Ger 
man  spy  system  of  which  she  was  a  representative: 
and  so  it  occurred  to  him  to  let  her  continue  to 
think  that  he  was  only  what  he  appeared  to  be  — 
a  savage  denizen  of  his  savage  jungle,  a  man  of 
no  race  and  no  country,  hating  all  white  men  im 
partially  ;  and  this  in  truth,  was  what  she  did  think 
of  him.  It  explained  perfectly  his  attacks  upon 
Major  Schneider  and  the  Major's  brother,  Haupt- 
mann  Fritz. 

Again  they  worked  on  in  silence  upon  the  boma 
which  was  now  nearly  completed,  the  girl  helping 
the  man  to  the  best  of  her  small  ability.  Tarzan 
could  not  but  note  with  grudging  approval  the  spirit 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  171 

^of  helpfulness  she  manifested  in  the  ofttimes  painful 
labor  of  gathering  and  arranging  the  thorn  bushes 
which  constituted  the  temporary  protection  against 
roaming  carnivora.  Her  hands  and  arms  gave 
bloody  token  of  the  sharpness  of  the  numerous 
points  that  had  lacerated  her  soft  flesh,  and  even 
though  she  were  an  enemy,  Tarzan  could  not  but 
feel  compunction  that  he  had  permitted  her  to  do 
this  work  and  at  last  he  bade  her  stop. 

"Why?"  she  asked,  "it  is  no  more  painful  to  me 
than  it  must  be  to  you  and,  as  it  is  solely  for  my 
protection  that  you  are  building  this  boma,  there 
is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  do  my  share." 

"You  are  a  woman,"  replied  Tarzan.  "This  is 
not  a  woman's  work.  If  you  wish  to  do  something, 
take  those  gourds  I  brought  this  morning  and  fill 
them  with  water  at  the  river.  You  may  need  it 
while  I  am  away." 

"While  you  are  away  — "  she  said,  "you  are 
going  away  ?  " 

"When  the  boma  is  built  I  am  going  out  after 
meat,"  he  replied.  "  Tomorrow  I  will  go  again  and 
take  you  and  show  you  how  you  may  make  your  own 
kills  after  I  am  gone." 

Without  a  word  she  took  the  gourds  and  walked 
toward  the  river.  As  she  filled  them  her  mind  was 
occupied  with  painful  forebodings  of  the  future.  She 
knew  that  Tarzan  had  passed  a  death  sentence  upon 
her,  and  that  the  moment  that  he  left  her,  her  doom 
was  sealed  for  it  could  be  but  a  question  of  time  — 
a  very  short  time  —  before  the  grim  jungle  would 


172  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

claim  her,  for  how  could  a  lone  woman  hope  suc 
cessfully  to  combat  the  savage  forces  of  destruction 
which  constituted  so  large  a  part  of  existence  in  the 
jungle. 

So  occupied  was  she  with  the  gloomy  prophecies 
that  she  had  neither  ears  nor  eyes  for  what  went 
on  about  her.  Mechanically  she  filled  the  gourds 
and  taking  them  up,  turned  slowly  to  retrace  her 
steps  to  the  boma  only  to  voice  immediately  a  half- 
stifled  scream,  and  shrink  back  from  the  menacing 
figure  looming  before  her  and  blocking  her  way  to 
the  hut. 

Go-lat,  the  king  ape,  hunting  a  little  apart  from 
his  tribe,  had  seen  the  woman  go  to  the  river  for 
water,  and  it  was  he  who  confronted  her  when  she 
turned  back  with  her  filled  gourds.  Go-lat  was 
not  a  pretty  creature  when  judged  by  standards  of 
civilized  humanity,  though  the  shes  of  his  tribe  and 
even  Go-lat  himself,  considered  his  glossy  black 
coat  shot  with  silver,  his  huge  arms  dangling  to 
his  knees,  his  bullet  head  sunk  between  his  mighty 
shoulders,  marks  of  great  personal  beauty.  His 
wicked,  bloodshot  eyes  and  broad  nose,  his  ample 
mouth  and  great  fighting  fangs  only  enhanced  the 
claim  of  this  Adonis  of  the  forest  upon  the  affections 
of  his  shes. 

Doubtless  in  the  little,  savage  brain  there  was  a 
well-formed  conviction  that  this  strange  she  be 
longing  to  the  Tarmangani  must  look  with  admira 
tion  upon  so  handsome  a  creature  as  Go-lat,  for 
there  could  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  that  his 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  173 

beauty  entirely  eclipsed  such  as  the  hairless  white 
ape  might  lay  claim  to. 

But  Bertha  Kircher  saw  only  a  hideous  beast,  a 
fierce  and  terrible  caricature  of  man.  Could  Go-lat 
have  known  what  passed  through  her  mind,  he  must 
have  been  terribly  chagrined,  though  the  chances 
are  that  he  would  have  attributed  it  to  a  lack  of 
discernment  on  her  part.  Tarzan  heard  the  girl's 
cry  and  looking  up  saw  at  a  glance  the  cause  of 
her  terror.  Leaping  lightly  over  the  boma,  he  ran 
swiftly  toward  her  as  Go-lat  lumbered  closer  to  the 
girl  the  while  he  voiced  his  emotions  in  low  gutturals 
which,  while  in  reality  the  most  amicable  of  advances, 
sounded  to  the  girl  like  the  growling  of  an  enraged 
beast.  As  Tarzan  drew  nearer,  he  called  aloud  to 
the  ape  and  the  girl  heard  from  the  human  lips 
the  same  sounds  that  had  fallen  from  those  of  the 
anthropoid. 

"I  will  not  harm  your  she,"  Go-lat  called  to 
Tarzan. 

"I  know  it,"  replied  the  ape-man,  "but  she  does 
not.  She  is  like  Numa  and  Sheeta  who  do  not  under 
stand  our  talk.  She  thinks  you  come  to  harm  her." 

By  this  time  Tarzan  was  beside  the  girl.  "He 
will  not  harm  you,"  he  said  to  her.  "  You  need  not 
be  afraid.  This  ape  has  learned  his  lesson.  He  has 
learned  that  Tarzan  is  lord  of  the  jungle.  He  will 
not  harm  that  which  is  Tarzan's." 

The  girl  cast  a  quick  glance  at  the  man's  face. 
It  was  evident  to  her  that  the  words  he  had  spoken 
meant  nothing  to  him  and  that  the  assumed  pro- 


174  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

prietorship  over  her  was,  like  the  boma,  only  another 
means  for  her  protection. 

"But  I  am  afraid  of  him,"  she  said. 

"You  must  not  show  your  fear.  You  will  b« 
often  surrounded  by  these  apes.  At  such  times  you 
will  be  safest.  Before  I  leave  you  I  will  give  you 
the  means  of  protecting  yourself  against  them  should 
one  of  them  chance  to  turn  upon  you.  If  I  were 
you  I  would  seek  their  society.  Few  are  the  animals 
of  the  jungle  that  dare  attack  the  great  apes  when 
there  are  several  of  them  together.  If  you  let  them 
know  that  you  are  afraid  of  them,  they  will  take 
advantage  of  it  and  your  life  will  be  constantly 
menaced.  The  shes  especially  would  attack  you.  I 
will  let  them  know  that  you  have  the  means  of  pro 
tecting  yourself  and  of  killing  them.  If  necessary, 
I  will  show  you  how  and  then  they  will  respect  and 
fear  you." 

"I  will  try,'*  said  the  girl,  "but  I  am  afraid  that 
it  will  be  difficult.  He  is  the  most  frightful  creature 
I  ever  have  seen." 

Tarzan  smiled.  "Doubtless  he  thinks  the  same 
of  you,"  he  said. 

By  this  time  other  apes  had  entered  the  clearing 
and  they  were  now  the  center  of  a  considerable 
group,  among  which  were  several  bulls,  some  young 
shes,  and  some  older  ones  with  their  little  balus 
clinging  to  their  backs  or  frolicking  around  at  their 
feet.  Though  they  had  seen  the  girl  the  night  of 
the  Dum-Dum  when  Sheeta  had  forced  her  to  leap 
from  her  concealment  into  the  arena  where  the  apes 


DROPPED  FROM  THE  SKY  175 

were  dancing,  they  still  evinced  a  great  curiosity  re 
garding  her.  Some  of  the  shes  came  very  close  and 
plucked  at  her  garments  commenting  upon  them  to 
one  another  in  their  strange  tongue.  The  girl  by  the 
exercise  of  all  the  willpower  she  could  command 
succeeded  in  passing  through  the  ordeal  without 
evincing  any  of  the  terror  and  revulsion  that  she 
felt.  Tarzan  watched  her  closely,  a  half-smile  upon 
his  face.  He  was  not  so  far  removed  from  recent 
contact  with  civilized  people  that  he  could  not  realize 
the  torture  that  she  was  undergoing,  but  he  felt  no 
pity  for  this  woman  of  a  cruel  enemy  who  doubtless 
deserved  the  worst  suffering  that  could  be  meted  to 
her.  Yet,  notwithstanding  his  sentiments  toward 
her,  he  was  forced  to  admire  her  fine  display  of 
courage.  Suddenly  he  turned  to  the  apes. 

"  Tarzan  goes  to  hunt  for  himself  and  his  she," 
he  said.  "  The  she  will  remain  there,"  and  he  pointed 
toward  the  hut.  "  See  that  no  member  of  the  tribe 
harms  her.  Do  you  understand?" 

The  apes  nodded.  "We  will  not  harm  her,"  said 
Go-lat. 

"  No,"  said  Tarzan.  "  You  will  not.  For  if  you 
do,  Tarzan  will  kill  you,"  and  then  turning  to  the 
girl,  "Come,"  he  said,  "I  am  going  to  hunt  now. 
You  had  better  remain  at  the  hut.  The  apes  have 
promised  not  to  harm  you.  I  will  leave  my  spear 
with  you.  It  will  be  the  best  weapon  you  could  have 
in  case  you  should  need  to  protect  yourself,  but  I 
doubt  if  you  will  be  in  any  danger  for  the  short 
time  that  I  am  away." 


176  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

He  walked  with  her  as  far  as  the  boma  and  when 
she  ha/1  entered  he  closed  the  gap  with  thorn  bushes 
and  turned  away  toward  the  forest.  She  watched 
him  moving  across  the  clearing,  noting  the  easy, 
catlike  tread  and  the  grace  of  every  movement  that 
harmonized  so  well  with  the  symmetry  and  perfec 
tion  of  his  figure.  At  the  forest's  edge  she  saw  him 
swing  lightly  into  a  tree  and  disappear  from  view 
and  then,  being  a  woman,  she  entered  the  hut  and 
throwing  herself  upon  the  ground,  burst  into  tears. 


CHAPTER  X 

IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES 

TARZAN  sought  Bara,  the  deer,  or  Horta,  the 
boar,  for  of  all  the  jungle  animals  he  doubted 
if  any  would  prove  more  palatable  to  the  white 
woman,  but  though  his  keen  nostrils  were  ever  on 
the  alert,  he  traveled  far  without  being  rewarded 
with  even  the  faintest  scent  spoor  of  the  game  he 
sought.  Keeping  close  to  the  river  where  he  hoped 
to  find  Bara  or  Horta  approaching  or  leaving  a 
drinking  place  he  came  at  last  upon  the  strong  odor 
of  the  Wamabo  village  and  being  ever  ready  to  pay 
his  hereditary  enemies,  the  Gomangani,  an  undesired 
visit,  he  swung  into  a  detour  and  came  up  in  the 
rear  of  the  village.  From  a  tree  which  overhung 
the  palisade  he  looked  down  into  the  street  where 
he  saw  the  preparations  going  on  which  his  experience 
told  him  indicated  the  approach  of  one  of  those 
frightful  feasts,  the  piece  de  resistance  of  which  is 
human  flesh. 

One  of  Tarzan's  chief  divertisements  was  the  bait 
ing  of  the  blacks.  He  realized  more  keen  enjoyment 
through  annoying  and  terrifying  them  than  from  any 
other  source  of  amusement  the  grim  jungle  offered. 

To  rob  them  of  their  feast  in  some  way  that  would 

177 


178  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

strike  terror  to  their  hearts  would  give  him  the 
keenest  of  pleasure,  and  so  he  searched  the  village 
with  his  eyes  for  some  indication  of  the  whereabouts 
of  the  prisoner.  His  view  was  circumscribed  by  the 
dense  foliage  of  the  tree  in  which  he  sat,  and  so 
that  he  might  obtain  a  better  view,  he  climbed  further 
aloft  and  moved  cautiously  out  upon  a  slender 
branch. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  possessed  a  woodcraft  scarcely 
short  of  the  marvelous  but  even  Tarzan's  wondrous 
senses  were  not  infallible.  The  branch  upon  which 
he  made  his  way  outward  from  the  bole  was  no 
smaller  than  many  that  had  borne  his  weight  upon 
countless  other  occasions.  Outwardly  it  appeared 
strong  and  healthy  and  was  in  full  foliage,  nor  could 
Tarzan  know  that  close  to  the  stem  a  burrowing 
insect  had  eaten  away  half  the  heart  of  the  solid 
wood  beneath  the  bark. 

And  so  when  he  reached  a  point  far  out  upon  the 
limb,  it  snapped  close  to  the  bole  of  the  tree  without 
warning.  Below  him  were  no  larger  branches  that 
he  might  clutch  and  as  he  lunged  downward  his  foot 
caught  in  a  looped  creeper  so  that  he  turned  com 
pletely  over  and  alighted  on  the  flat  of  his  back 
in  the  center  of  the  village  street. 

At  the  sound  of  the  breaking  limb  and  the  crash 
ing  body  falling  through  the  branches  the  startled 
blacks  scurried  to  their  huts  for  weapons,  and  when 
the  braver  of  them  emerged,  they  saw  the  still  form 
of  an  almost  naked  white  man  lying  where  he  had 
fallen.  Emboldened  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        179 

move  they  approached  more  closely,  and  when  their 
eyes  discovered  no  signs  of  others  of  his  kind  in  the 
tree,  they  rushed  forward  until  a  dozen  warriors 
stood  about  him  with  ready  spears.  At  first  they 
thought  that  the  falling  had  killed  him,  but  upon 
closer  examination  they  discovered  that  the  man 
was  only  stunned.  One  of  the  warriors  was  for 
thrusting  a  spear  through  his  heart,  but  Numabo, 
the  chief,  would  not  permit  it. 

"Bind  him,"  he  said.  "We  will  feed  well  to 
night." 

And  so  they  bound  his  hands  and  feet  with  thongs 
of  gut  and  carried  him  into  the  hut  where  Lieutenant 
Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  awaited  his  fate.  The 
Englishman  had  also  been  bound  hand  and  foot  by 
this  time  for  fear  that  at  the  last  moment  he  might 
escape  and  rob  them  of  their  feast.  A  great  crowd 
of  natives  were  gathered  about  the  hut  attempting 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  new  prisoner,  but  Numabo 
doubled  the  guard  before  the  entrance  for  fear  that 
some  of  his  people,  in  the  exuberance  of  their  savage 
joy,  might  rob  the  others  of  the  pleasures  of  the 
death  dance  which  would  precede  the  killing  of  the 
victims. 

The  young  Englishman  had  heard  the  sound  of 
Tarzan's  body  crashing  through  the  tree  to  the 
ground  and  the  commotion  in  the  village  which  imme 
diately  followed,  and  now  as  he  stood  with  his  back 
against  the  wall  of  the  hut,  he  looked  upon  the  fel 
low-prisoner  that  the  blacks  carried  in  and  laid 
upon  the  floor  with  mixed  feelings  of  surprise  and 


180  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

compassion.  He  realized  that  he  never  had  seen 
a  more  perfect  specimen  of  manhood  than  that  of 
the  unconscious  figure  before  him  and  he  wondered 
to  what  sad  circumstance  the  man  owed  his  capture. 
It  was  evident  that  the  new  prisoner  was  himself  as 
much  a  savage  as  his  captors  if  apparel  and  weapons 
were  any  criterion  by  which  to  judge,  yet  it  was 
also  equally  evident  that  he  was  a  white  man  and 
from  his  well-shaped  head  and  clean-cut  features 
that  he  was  not  one  of  those  unhappy  half-wits  who 
so  often  revert  to  savagery  even  in  the  heart  of 
civilized  communities. 

As  he  watched  the  man,  he  presently  noticed  that 
his  eyelids  were  moving.  Slowly  they  opened  and 
a  pair  of  gray  eyes  looked  blankly  about.  With  re 
turning  consciousness  the  eyes  assumed  their  natural 
expression  of  keen  intelligence  and  a  moment  later, 
with  an  effort,  the  prisoner  rolled  over  upon  his 
side  and  drew  himself  to  a  sitting  position.  He  was 
facing  the  Englishman  and  as  his  eyes  took  in  the 
bound  ankles  and  the  arms  drawn  tightly  behind 
the  other's  back,  a  slow  smile  lighted  his  features. 

"  They  will  fill  their  bellies  tonight,"  he  said. 

The  Englishman  grinned.  "From  the  fuss  they 
made,"  he  said,  "the  beggars  must  be  awfully  hun 
gry.  They  like  to  have  eaten  me  alive  when  they 
brought  me  in.  How  did  they  get  you  ?  " 

Tarzan  shrugged  his  head  ruefully.  "It  was  my 
own  fault,"  he  replied.  "I  deserve  to  be  eaten.  I 
crawled  out  upon  a  branch  that  would  not  bear  my 
weight  and  when  it  broke,  instead  of  alighting  on 


/AT  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        181 

my  feet,  I  caught  my  foot  in  a  trailer  and  came  down 
on  my  head.  Otherwise  they  would  not  have  taken 
me  —  alive." 

"Is  there  no  escape?"  asked  the  Englishman. 

"I  have  escaped  them  before,"  replied  Tarzan, 
"  and  I  have  seen  others  escape  them.  I  have  seen 
a  man  taken  away  from  the  stake  after  a  dozen 
spear  thrusts  had  pierced  his  body  and  the  fire  had 
been  lighted  about  his  feet." 

Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  shuddered.  "God!" 
he  exclaimed,  "I  hope  I  don't  have  to  face  that.  I 
believe  I  could  stand  anything  but  the  thought  of 
the  fire.  I  should  hate  like  the  devil  to  go  into  a 
funk  before  the  devils  at  the  last  moment." 

"Don't  worry,"  said  Tarzan.  "It  doesn't  last 
long  and  you  won't  funk.  It  is  really  not  half  as  bad 
as  it  sounds.  There  is  only  a  brief  period  of  pain 
before  you  lose  consciousness.  I  have  seen  it  many 
times  before.  It  is  as  good  a  way  to  go  as  another. 
We  must  die  sometime.  What  difference  whether  it 
be  tonight,  tomorrow  night,  or  a  year  hence,  just 
so  that  we  have  lived — and  I  have  lived!" 

"Your  philosophy  may  be  all  right,  old  top," 
said  the  young  lieutenant,  "but  I  can't  say  that  it 
is  exactly  satisfying." 

Tarzan  laughed.  "Roll  over  here,"  he  said, 
"  where  I  can  get  at  your  bonds  with  my  teeth." 
The  Englishman  did  as  he  was  bid  and  presently 
Tarzan  was  working  at  the  thongs  with  his  strong 
white  teeth.  He  felt  them  giving  slowly  beneath  his 
efforts.  In  another  moment  they  would  part,  and 


182  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

then  it  would  be  a  comparatively  simple  thing  for 
the  Englishman  to  remove  the  remaining  bonds  from 
Tarzan  and  himself. 

It  was  then  that  one  of  the  guards  entered  the 
hut.  In  an  instant  he  saw  what  the  new  prisoner 
was  doing  and  raising  his  spear,  struck  the  ape-man 
a  vicious  blow  across  the  head  with  its  haft.  Then 
he  called  in  the  other  guards  and  together  they  fell 
upon  the  luckless  men,  kicking  and  beating  them  un 
mercifully  after  which  they  bound  the  Englishman 
more  securely  than  before  and  tied  both  men  fast  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  hut.  When  they  had  gone 
Tarzan  looked  across  at  his  companion  in  misery. 

"While  there  is  life,"  he  said,  "there  is  hope," 
but  he  grinned  as  he  voiced  the  ancient  truism. 

Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  returned 
the  other's  smile.  "  I  fancy,"  he  said,  "  that  we  are 
getting  short  on  both.  It  must  be  close  to  supper 
time  now." 

Zu-tag  hunted  alone  far  from  the  balance  of  the 
tribe  of  Go-lat,  the  great  ape.  Zu-tag  (Big-neck) 
was  a  young  bull  but  recently  arrived  at  maturity. 
He  was  large,  powerful,  and  ferocious  and  at  the 
same  time  far  above  the  average  of  his  kind  in  intel 
ligence  as  was  denoted  by  a  fuller  and  less  receding 
forehead.  Already  Go-lat  saw  in  this  young  ape  a 
possible  contender  for  the  laurels  of  his  kingship 
and  consequently  the  old  bull  looked  upon  Zu-tag 
with  jealousy  and  disfavor.  It  was  for  this  reason, 
possibly,  as  much  as  another  that  Zu-tag  hunted  so 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        183 

often  alone;  but  it  was  his  utter  fearlessness  that 
permitted  him  to  wander  far  afield  away  from  the 
protection  which  numbers  gave  the  great  apes.  One 
of  the  results  of  this  habit  was  a  greatly  increased 
resourcefulness  which  found  him  constantly  grow 
ing  in  intelligence  and  powers  of  observation. 

Today  he  had  been  hunting  toward  the  south  and 
was  returning  along  the  river  upon  a  path  he  often 
followed  because  it  led  by  the  village  of  the  Goman- 
gani  whose  strange  and  almost  apelike  actions  and 
peculiar  manners  of  living  had  aroused  his  interest 
and  curiosity.  As  he  had  done  upon  other  occasions 
he  took  up  his  position  in  a  tree  from  which  he  could 
overlook  the  interior  of  the  village  and  watch  the 
blacks  at  their  vocations  in  the  street  below. 

Zu-tag  had  scarcely  more  than  established  him 
self  in  his  tree  when,  with  the  blacks,  he  was  startled 
by  the  crashing  of  Tarzan's  body  from  the  branches 
of  another  jungle  giant  to  the  ground  within  the 
palisade.  He  saw  the  Negroes  gather  about  the 
prostrate  form  and  later  carry  it  into  the  hut ;  and 
once  he  rose  to  his  full  height  upon  the  limb  where 
he  had  been  squatting  and  raised  his  face  to  the 
heavens  to  scream  out  a  savage  protest  and  a  chal 
lenge,  for  he  had  recognized  in  the  brown-skinned 
Tarmangani  the  strange  white  ape  who  had  come 
among  them  a  night  or  two  before  in  the  midst  of 
their  Dum-Dum,  and  who  by  so  easily  mastering  the 
greatest  among  them,  had  won  the  savage  respect 
and  admiration  of  this  fierce  young  bull. 
,  But  Zu-tag's  ferocity  was  tempered  by  a  certain 


184  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

native  cunning  and  caution.  Before  he  had  voiced 
his  protest  there  formed  in  his  mind  the  thought 
that  he  would  like  to  save  this  wonderful  white  ape 
from  the  common  enemy,  the  Gomangani,  and  so  he 
screamed  forth  no  challenge,  wisely  determining  that 
more  could  be  accomplished  by  secrecy  and  stealth 
than  by  force  of  muscle  and  fang. 

At  first  he  thought  to  enter  the  village  alone  and 
carry  off  the  Tarmangani;  but  when  he  saw  ho\\ 
numerous  were  the  warriors  and  that  several  sat  di 
rectly  before  the  entrance  to  the  lair  into  which  the 
prisoner  had  been  carried,  it  occurred  to  him  that 
this  was  work  for  many  rather  than  one  and  so,  as 
silently  as  he  had  come,  he  slipped  away  through 
the  foliage  toward  the  north. 

The  tribe  was  still  loitering  about  the  clearing 
where  stood  the  hut  that  Tarzan  and  Bertha  Kircher 
had  built.  Some  were  idly  searching  for  food  just 
within  the  forest's  edge,  while  others  squatted  be 
neath  the  shade  of  trees  within  the  clearing. 

The  girl  had  emerged  from  the  hut,  her  tears  dried 
and  was  gazing  anxiously  toward  the  south  into  the 
jungle  where  Tarzan  had  disappeared.  Occasionally 
she  cast  suspicious  glances  in  the  direction  of  the 
huge  shaggy  anthropoids  about  her.  How  easy  it 
would  be  for  one  of  those  great  beasts  to  enter  the 
boma  and  slay  her.  How  helpless  she  was,  even  with 
the  spear  that  the  white  man  had  left  her,  she  realized 
as  she  noted  for  the  thousandth  time  the  massive 
shoulders,  the  bull  necks,  and  the  great  muscles  glid- 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        185 

ing  so  easily  beneath  the  glossy  coats.  Never,  she 
thought,  had  she  seen  such  personifications  of  brute 
power  as  were  represented  by  these  mighty  bulls. 
Those  huge  hands  would  snap  her  futile  spear  as 
she  might  snap  a  match  in  two,  while  their  lightest 
blow  could  crush  her  into  insensibility  and  death. 

It  was  while  she  was  occupied  with  these  depress 
ing  thoughts  that  there  dropped  suddenly  into  the 
clearing  from  the  trees  upon  the  south  the  figure 
of  a  mighty  young  bull.  At  that  time  all  of  the 
apes  looked  much  alike  to  Bertha  Kircher,  nor  was 
it  until  some  time  later  that  she  realized  that  each 
differed  from  the  others  in  individual  characteristics 
of  face  and  figure  as  do  individuals  of  the  human 
races.  Yet  even  then  she  could  not  help  but  note 
the  wondrous  strength  and  agility  of  this  great  beast, 
and  as  he  approached  she  even  found  herself  ad 
miring  the  sheen  of  his  heavy,  black,  silver-shot  coat. 

It  was  evident  that  the  newcomer  was  filled  with 
suppressed  excitement.  His  demeanor  and  bearing 
proclaimed  this  even  from  afar,  nor  was  the  girl 
the  only  one  to  note  it.  For  as  they  saw  him  coming 
many  of  the  apes  arose  and  advanced  to  meet  him 
bristling  and  growling  as  is  their  way.  Go-lat  was 
among  these  latter  and  he  advanced  stiffly  with  the 
hairs  upon  his  neck  and  down  his  spine  erect,  utter 
ing  low  growls  and  baring  his  fighting  fangs,  for 
who  might  say  whether  Zu-tag  came  in  peace  or 
otherwise.  The  old  king  had  seen  other  young1  apes 
come  thus  in  his  day  filled  with  a  sudden  resolution 
to  wrest  the  kingship  from  their  chief.  He  had  seen 


186  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

bulls  about  to  run  amuck  burst  thus  suddenly  from 
the  jungle  upon  the  members  of  the  tribe,  and  so 
Go-lat  took  no  chances. 

Had  Zu-tag  come  indolently,  feeding  as  he  came, 
he  might  have  entered  the  tribe  without  arousing 
notice  or  suspicion,  but  when  one  comes  thus  pre 
cipitately,  evidently  bursting  with  some  emotion  out 
of  the  ordinary,  let  all  apes  beware.  There  was  a 
certain  amount  of  preliminary  circling,  growling, 
and  sniffing,  stiff-legged  and  stiff-haired,  before  each 
side  discovered  that  the  other  had  no  intention  of 
initiating  an  attack  and  then  Zu-tag  told  Go-lat  what 
he  had  seen  among  the  lairs  of  the  Gomangani. 

Go-lat  grunted  in  disgust  and  turned  away.  "  Let 
the  white  ape  take  care  of  himself,"  he  said. 

"He  is  a  great  ape,"  said  Zu-tag.  "He  came 
to  live  in  peace  with  the  tribe  of  Go-lat.  Let  us 
save  him  from  the  Gomangani." 

Go-lat  grunted  again  and  continued  to  move  away. 

"Zu-tag  will  go  alone  and  get  him,"  cried  the 
young  ape,  "  if  Go-lat  is  afraid  of  the  Gomangani." 

The  king  ape  wheeled  in  anger,  growling  loudly 
and  beating  upon  his  breast.  "  Go-lat  is  not  afraid," 
he  screamed,  "but  he  will  not  go,  for  the  white  ape 
is  not  of  his  tribe.  Go  yourself  and  take  the  Tar- 
mangani's  she  with  you  if  you  wish  so  much  to  save 
the  white  ape." 

"  Zu-tag  will  go,"  replied  the  younger  bull,  "  and 
he  will  take  the  Tarmangani's  she  and  all  the  bulls 
of  Go-lat  who  are  not  cowards,"  and  so  saying  he 
cast  his  eyes  inquiringly  about  at  the  other  apes* 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        187 

"Who  will  go  with  Zu-tag  to  fight  the  Gomangani 
and  bring  away  our  brother,"  he  demanded. 

Eight  young  bulls  in  the  full  prime  of  their  vigor 
pressed  forward  to  Zu-tag's  side,  but  the  old  bulls 
with  the  conservatism  and  caution  of  many  years 
upon  their  gray  shoulders,  shook  their  heads  and 
waddled  away  after  Go-lat. 

"Good,"  cried  Zu-tag.  "We  want  no  old  shes 
to  go  with  us  to  fight  the  Gomangani  for  that  is 
work  for  the  fighters  of  the  tribe." 

The  old  bulls  paid  no  attention  to  his  boastful 
words,  but  the  eight  who  had  volunteered  to  accom 
pany  him  were  filled  with  self-pride  so  that  they 
stood  around  vaingloriously  beating  upon  their 
breasts,  baring  their  fangs  and  screaming  their 
hideous  challenge  until  the  jungle  reverberated  to 
the  horrid  sound. 

All  this  time  Bertha  Kircher  was  a  wide-eyed  and 
terrified  spectator  to  what,  as  she  thought,  could 
end  only  in  a  terrific  battle  between  these  frightful 
beasts,  and  when  Zu-tag  and  his  followers  began 
screaming  forth  their  fearsome  challenge,  the  girl 
found  herself  trembling  in  terror,  for  of  all  the 
sounds  of  the  jungle  there  is  none  more  awe  inspiring 
than  that  of  the  great  bull  ape  when  he  issues  his 
challenge  or  shrieks  forth  his  victory  cry. 

If  she  had  been  terrified  before  she  was  almost 
paralyzed  with  fear  now  as  she  saw  Zu-tag  and  his 
apes  turn  toward  the  boma  and  approach  her.  With 
the  agility  of  a  cat  Zu-tag  leaped  completely  over 
the  protecting  wall  and  stood  before  her.  Valiantly 


188  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

she  held  her  spear  before  her,  pointing  it  at  his 
breast.  He  commenced  to  jabber  and  gesticulate, 
and  even  with  her  scant  acquaintance  with  the  ways 
of  the  anthropoids,  she  realized  that  he  was  not 
menacing  her,  for  there  was  little  or  no  baring  of 
fighting  fangs  and  his  whole  expression  and  attitude 
was  as  of  one  attempting  to  explain  a  knotty  prob- 
lem  or  plead  a  worthy  cause.  At  last  he  became 
evidently  impatient,  for  with  a  sweep  of  one  great 
paw  he  struck  the  spear  from  her  hand  and  coming 
close,  seized  her  by  the  arm,  but  not  roughly.  She 
shrank  away  in  terror  and  yet  some  sense  within  her 
seemed  to  be  trying  to  assure  her  that  she  was  in 
no  danger  from  this  great  beast.  Zu-tag  jabbered 
loudly,  ever  and  again  pointing  into  the  jungle 
toward  the  south  and  moving  toward  the  boma,  pull 
ing  the  girl  with  him,  he  seemed  almost  frantic  in 
his  efforts  to  explain  something  to  her.  He  pointed 
toward  the  boma,  herself,  and  then  to  the  forest 
and  then  at  last  as  though  by  a  sudden  inspiration, 
he  reached  down  and  seizing  the  spear,  repeatedly 
touched  it  with  his  forefinger  and  again  pointed 
toward  the  south.  Suddenly  it  dawned  upon  the  girl 
that  what  the  ape  was  trying  to  explain  to  her  was 
related  in  some  way  to  the  white  man  whose  property 
they  thought  she  was.  Possibly  her  grim  protector 
was  in  trouble  and  with  this  thought  firmly  estab 
lished,  she  no  longer  held  back,  but  started  forward 
as  though  to  accompany  the  young  bull.  At  the 
point  in  the  boma  where  Tarzan  had  blocked  the 
entrance,  she  started  to  pull  away  the  thorn  bushes 


72V  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        189 

and  when  Zu-tag  saw  what  she  was  doing,  he  fell 
to  and  assisted  her  so  that  presently  they  had  an 
opening  through  the  boma  through  which  she  passed 
with  the  great  ape. 

Immediately  Zu-tag  and  his  eight  apes  started  off 
rapidly  toward  the  jungle,  so  rapidly  that  Bertha 
Kircher  would  have  had  to  run  at  top  speed  to 
keep  up  with  them.  This  she  realized  she  could  not 
do  and  so  she  was  forced  to  lag  behind  much  to  the 
chagrin  of  Zu-tag  who  constantly  kept  running 
back  and  urging  her  to  greater  speed.  Once  he 
took  her  by  the  arm  and  tried  to  draw  her  along. 
Her  protests  were  of  no  avail  since  the  beast  could 
not  know  that  they  were  protests,  nor  did  he  desist 
until  she  caught  her  foot  in  some  tangled  grass  and 
fell  to  the  ground.  Then  indeed  was  Zu-tag  furious 
and  growled  hideously.  His  apes  were  waiting  at  the 
edge  of  the  forest  for  him  to  lead  them.  He  sud 
denly  realized  that  this  poor  weak  she  could  not 
keep  up  with  them  and  that  if  they  traveled  at  her 
slow  rate  they  might  be  too  late  to  render  assistance 
to  the  Tarmangani,  and  so  without  more  ado,  the 
giant  anthropoid  picked  Bertha  Kircher  bodily  from 
the  ground  and  swung  her  to  his  back.  Her  arms 
were  about  his  neck  and  in  this  position  he  seized 
her  wrists  in  one  great  paw  so  that  she  could  not  fall 
off  and  started  at  a  rapid  rate  to  join  his  com 
panions. 

Dressed  as  she  was  in  riding  breeches  with  no 
entangling  skirts  to  hinder  or  catch  upon  passing 
shrubbery,  she  soon  found  that  she  could  cling  tightly 


190  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

to  the  back  of  the  mighty  bull  and  when  a  moment 
later  he  took  to  the  lower  branches  of  the  trees,  she 
closed  her  eyes  and  clung  to  him  in  terror  lest  she 
be  precipitated  to  the  ground  below. 

That  journey  through  the  primeval  forest  with 
the  nine  great  apes  will  live  in  the  memory  of  Bertha 
Kircher  for  the  balance  of  her  life,  as  clearly  de 
lineated  as  at  the  moment  of  its  enactment. 

The  first  overwhelming  wave  of  fear  having  passed, 
she  was  at  last  able  to  open  her  eyes  and  view  her 
surroundings  with  increased  interest  and  presently 
the  sensation  of  terror  slowly  left  her  to  be  replaced 
by  one  of  comparative  security  when  she  saw  the  ease 
and  surety  with  which  these  great  beasts  traveled 
through  the  trees ;  and  later  her  admiration  for  the 
young  bull  increased  as  it  became  evident  that  even 
burdened  with  her  additional  weight,  he  moved  more 
rapidly  and  with  no  greater  signs  of  fatigue  than  his 
unburdened  fellows. 

Not  once  did  Zu-tag  pause  until  he  came  to  a  stop 
among  the  branches  of  a  tree  no  great  distance  from 
the  native  village.  They  could  hear  the  noises  of 
the  life  within  the  palisade,  the  laughing  and  shout 
ing  of  the  Negroes,  and  the  barking  of  dogs,  and 
through  the  foliage  the  girl  caught  glimpses  of  the 
village  from  which  she  had  so  recently  escaped.  She 
shuddered  to  think  of  the  possibility  of  having  to 
return  to  it  and  of  possible  recapture,  and  she  won 
dered  why  Zu-tag  had  brought  her  here. 

Now  the  apes  advanced  slowly  once  more  and  with 
great  caution,  moving  as  noiselessly  through  the  trees 


/AT  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        191 

as  the  squirrels  themselves  until  they  had  reached 
a  point  where  they  could  easily  overlook  the  palisade 
and  the  village  street  below. 

Zu-tag  squatted  upon  a  great  branch  close  to  the 
bole  of  the  tree  and  by  loosening  the  girl's  arms 
from  about  his  neck,  indicated  that  she  was  to  find 
a  footing  for  herself  and  when  she  had  done  so,  he 
turned  toward  her  and  pointed  repeatedly  at  the 
open  doorway  of  a  hut  upon  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street  below  them.  By  various  gestures  he 
seemed  to  be  trying  to  explain  something  to  her  and 
at  last  she  caught  at  the  germ  of  his  idea  —  that 
her  white  man  was  a  prisoner  there. 

Beneath  them  was  the  roof  of  a  hut  onto  which 
she  saw  that  she  could  easily  drop,  but  what  she 
could  do  after  she  had  entered  the  village  was  be 
yond  her. 

Darkness  was  already  falling  and  the  fires  be 
neath  the  cooking  pots  had  been  lighted.  The  girl 
saw  the  stake  in  the  village  street  and  the  piles  of 
fagots  about  it  and  in  terror  she  suddenly  realized 
the  portent  of  these  grisly  preparations.  Oh,  if  she 
but  only  had  some  sort  of  a  weapon  that  might 
give  her  even  a  faint  hope,  some  slight  advantage 
against  the  blacks.  Then  she  would  not  hesitate  to 
venture  into  the  village  in  an  attempt  to  save  the 
man  who  had  upon  three  different  occasions  saved 
her.  She  knew  that  he  hated  her  and  yet  strong 
within  her  breast  burned  the  sense  of  her  obligation 
to  him.  She  could  not  fathom  him.  Never  in  her 
life  had  she  seen  a  man  at  once  so  paradoxical  and 


192  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

dependable.  In  many  of  his  ways  he  was  more  savage 
than  the  beasts  with  which  he  associated  and  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  was  as  chivalrous  as  a  knight 
of  old.  For  several  days  she  had  been  lost  with 
him  in  the  jungle  absolutely  at  his  mercy  yet  she 
had  come  to  trust  so  implicitly  in  his  honor  that  any 
fear  she  had  had  of  him  was  rapidly  disappearing. 

On  the  other  hand,  that  he  might  be  hideously 
cruel  was  evidenced  to  her  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
planning  to  leave  her  alone  in  the  midst  of  the 
frightful  dangers  which  menaced  her  by  night  and 
by  day. 

Zu-tag  was  evidently  waiting  for  darkness  to  fall 
before  carrying  out  whatever  plans  had  matured  in 
his  savage  little  brain  for  he  and  his  fellows  sat 
quietly  in  the  tree  about  her  watching  the  prepara 
tion  of  the  blacks.  Presently  it  became  apparent 
that  some  altercation  had  arisen  among  the  Negroes, 
for  a  score  or  more  of  them  were  gathered  around 
one  who  appeared  to  be  their  chief  and  all  were 
talking  and  gesticulating  heatedly.  The  argument 
lasted  for  some  five  or  ten  minutes  when  suddenly 
the  little  knot  broke  and  two  warriors  ran  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  village  from  whence  they  pres 
ently  returned  with  a  large  stake  which  they  soon 
set  up  beside  the  one  already  in  place.  The  girl 
wondered  what  the  purpose  of  the  second  stake  might 
be  nor  did  she  have  long  to  wait  for  an  explanation. 

It  was  quite  dark  by  this  time,  the  village  being 
lighted  by  the  fitful  glare  of  many  fires  and  now 
she  saw  a  number  of  warriors  approach  and  enter 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        193 

the  hut  Zu-tag  had  been  watching.  A  moment  later 
they  reappeared  dragging  between  them  two  cap 
tives,  one  of  whom  the  girl  immediately  recognized 
as  her  protector  and  the  other  as  an  Englishman; 
in  the  uniform  of  an  aviator.  This,  then,  was  the 
reason  for  the  two  stakes. 

Arising  quickly  she  placed  a  hand  upon  Zu-tag*s 
shoulder  and  pointed  down  into  the  village.  "  Come," 
she  said,  as  if  she  had  been  talking  to  one  of  her 
own  kind,  and  with  the  word  she  swung  lightly  to 
the  roof  of  the  hut  below.  From  there  to  the  ground 
was  but  a  short  drop  and  a  moment  later  she  was 
circling  the  hut  upon  the  side  farthest  from  the 
fires,  keeping  in  the  dense  shadows  where  there  was 
little  likelihood  of  being  discovered.  She  turned 
once  to  see  that  Zu-tag  was  directly  behind  her  and 
could  see  his  huge  bulk  looming  up  in  the  dark,  while 
beyond  was  another  one  of  his  eight.  Doubtless  they 
had  all  followed  her  and  this  fact  gave  her  a  greater 
sense  of  security  and  hope  than  she  had  before  ex 
perienced. 

Pausing  beside  the  hut  next  to  the  street,  slie 
peered  cautiously  about  the  corner.  A  few  inches 
from  her  was  the  open  doorway  of  the  structure  and 
beyond,  farther  down  the  village  street  the  blacks 
were  congregating  about  the  prisoners  who  were  al 
ready  being  bound  to  the  stakes.  All  eyes  were 
centered  upon  the  victims  and  there  was  only  the 
remotest  chance  that  she  and  her  companions  would 
be  discovered  until  they  were  close  upon  the  blacks. 

She  wished,  however,  that  she  might  have  some  sort- 

" 


194  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  a  weapon  with  which  to  lead  the  attack  for  she 
could  not  know,  of  course,  for  a  certainty  whether 
the  great  apes  would  follow  her  or  not.  Hoping  that 
she  might  find  something  within  the  hut,  she  slipped 
quickly  around  the  corner  and  into  the  doorway  and 
after  her,  one  by  one,  came  the  nine  bulls.  Search 
ing  quickly  about  the  interior,  she  presently  dis 
covered  a  spear  and  armed  with  this,  she  again  ap 
proached  the  entrance. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  and  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy 
Smith-Oldwick  were  bound  securely  to  their  respec 
tive  stakes.  Neither  had  spoken  for  some  time.  The 
Englishman  turned  his  head  so  that  he  could  see 
his  companion  in  misery.  Tarzan  stood  straight 
against  his  stake.  His  face  was  entirely  expression 
less  in  so  far  as  either  fear  or  anger  were  concerned. 
His  countenance  portrayed  bored  indifference  though 
.both  men  knew  that  they  were  about  to  be  tortured. 

"Good-bye,  old  top,"  whispered  the  young  lieu 
tenant. 

Tarzan  turned  his  eyes  in  the  direction  of  the 
other  and  smiled.  "Good-bye,"  he  said.  *4If  you 
want  to  get  it  over  in  a  hurry,  inhale  the  smoke  and 
flames  as  rapidly  as  you  can." 

"  Thanks,"  replied  the  aviator  and  though  he  made 
a  wry  face,  he  drew  himself  up  very  straight  and 
squared  his  shoulders. 

The  women  and  children  had  seated  themselves  in 
a  wide  circle  about  the  victims  while  the  warriors, 
hideously  painted,  were  forming  slowly  to  commence 
the  dance  of  death.  Again  Tarzan  turned  to  his 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        195 

companion.  "If  you'd  like  to  spoil  their  fun,"  he 
said,  "  don't  make  any  fuss  no  matter  how  much  you 
suffer.  If  you  can  carry  on  to  the  end  without 
changing  the  expression  upon  your  face  or  uttering 
a  single  sound,  you  will  deprive  them  of  all  the 
pleasures  of  this  part  of  the  entertainment.  Good 
bye  again  and  good  luck." 

The  young  Englishman  made  no  reply  but  it  was 
evident  from  the  set  of  his  jaws  that  the  Negroes 
would  get  little  enjoyment  out  of  him. 

The  warriors  were  circling  now.  Presently 
Numabo  would  draw  first  blood  with  his  sharp 
spear  which  would  be  the  signal  for  the  beginning 
of  the  torture  after  a  little  of  which  the  fagots  would 
be  lighted  around  the  feet  of  the  victims. 

Closer  and  closer  danced  the  hideous  chief,  his 
yellow,  sharp-filed  teeth  showing  in  the  firelight 
between  his  thick,  red  lips.  Now  bending  double, 
now  stamping  furiously  upon  the  ground,  now  leap 
ing  into  the  air,  he  danced  step  by  step  in  the  nar 
rowing  circle  that  would  presently  bring  him  within 
spear  reach  of  the  intended  feast. 

At  last  the  spear  reached  out  and  touched  the 
ape-man  on  the  breast  and  when  it  came  away,  a 
little  trickle  of  blood  ran  down  the  smooth,  brown 
hide  and  almost  simultaneously  there  broke  from 
the  outer  periphery  of  the  expectant  audience  a 
woman's  shriek  which  seemed  a  signal  for  a  series  of 
hideous  screamings,  growlings  and  barkings,  and  a 
great  commotion  upon  that  side  of  the  circle.  The 
victims  could  not  see  the  cause  of  the  disturbanc: 


196  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

but  Tarzan  did  not  have  to  see  for  he  knew  by 
the  voices  of  the  apes  the  identity  of  the  disturbers. 
He  only  wondered  what  had  brought  them  and  what 
the  purpose  of  the  attack,  for  he  could  not  believe 
that  they  had  come  to  rescue  him. 

Numabo  and  his  warriors  broke  quickly  from  the 
circle  of  their  dance  to  see  pushing  toward  them 
through  the  ranks  of  their  screaming  and  terrified 
people  the  very  white  girl  who  had  escaped  them 
a  few  nights  before,  and  at  her  back  what  appeared 
to  their  surprised  eyes  a  veritable  horde  of  the  huge 
and  hairy  forest  men  upon  whom  they  looked  with 
considerable  fear  and  awe. 

Striking  to  right  and  left  with  his  heavy  fists, 
tearing  with  his  great  fangs,  came  Zu-tag,  the  young 
bull,  while  at  his  heels,  emulating  his  example,  surged 
his  hideous  apes.  Quickly  they  came  through  the  old 
men  and  the  women  and  children,  for  straight  toward 
Numabo  and  his  warriors  the  girl  led  them.  It  was 
then  that  they  came  within  range  of  Tarzan's  vision 
and  he  saw  with  unmixed  surprise  who  it  was  that 
led  the  apes  to  his  rescue. 

To  Zu-tag  he  shouted :  "  Go  for  the  big  bulls 
while  the  she  unbinds  me,"  and  to  Bertha  Kircher: 
"  Quick !  Cut  these  bonds.  The  apes  will  take  care 
of  the  blacks." 

Turning  from  her  advance  the  girl  ran  to  his 
side.  She  had  no  knife  and  the  bonds  were  tied 
tightly  but  she  worked  quickly  and  coolly  and  as 
Zu-tag  and  his  apes  closed  with  the  warriors,  she  suc 
ceeded  in  loosening  Tarzan's  bonds  sufficiently  to 


IN  THE  HANDS  OF  SAVAGES        lf>/ 

permit  him  to  extricate  his  own  hands  so  that  in 
another  minute  he  had  freed  himself. 

"  Now  unbind  the  Englishman,"  he  cried,  and  leap 
ing  forward,  ran  to  join  Zu-tag  and  his  fellows  in 
their  battle  against  the  blacks.  Numabo  and  his 
warriors,  realizing  now  the  relatively  small  numbers 
of  the  apes  against  them,  had  made  a  determined 
stand  and  with  spears  and  weapons  were  endeavor 
ing  to  overcome  the  invaders.  Three  of  the  apes 
were  already  down,  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  when 
Tarzan,  realizing  that  the  battle  must  eventually  go 
against  the  apes  unless  some  means  could  be  found 
to  break  the  morale  of  the  Negroes,  cast  about  him 
for  some  means  of  bringing  about  the  desired  end. 
And  suddenly  his  eye  lighted  upon  a  number  of 
weapons  which  he  knew  would  accomplish  the  result. 
A  grim  smile  touched  his  lips  as  he  snatched  a  vessel 
of  boiling  water  from  one  of  the  fires  and  hurled 
it  full  in  the  faces  of  the  warriors.  Screaming  with 
terror  and  pain  they  fell  back  though  Numabo  urged 
them  to  rush  forward. 

Scarcely  had  the  first  cauldron  of  boiling  water 
spilled  its  contents  upon  them  ere  Tarzan  deluged 
them  with  a  second,  nor  was  there  any  third  needed 
to  send  them  shrieking  in  every  direction  to  the  se 
curity  of  their  huts. 

By  the  time  Tarzan  had  recovered  his  own  weapons 
the  girl  had  released  the  young  Englishman  and, 
with  the  six  remaining  apes,  the  three  Europeans 
moved  slowly  toward  the  village  gate,  the  aviator 
arming  himself  with  a  spear  discarded  by  one  of 


198  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  scalded  warriors,  as  they  eagerly  advanced  to 
ward  the  outer  darkness. 

Numabo  was  unable  to  rally  the  now  thoroughly 
terrified  and  painfully  burned  warriors  so  that 
rescued  and  rescuers  passed  out  of  the  village  into 
the  blackness  of  the  jungle  without  further  inter 
ference. 

Tarzan  strode  through  the  jungle  in  silence.  Be 
side  him  walked  Zu-tag,  the  great  ape,  and  behind 
them  strung  the  surviving  anthropoids  followed  by 
Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher  and  Lieutenant  Harold 
Percy  Smith-Oldwick,  the  latter  a  thoroughly  as 
tonished  and  mystified  Englishman. 

In  all  his  life  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  had  been  obliged 
to  acknowledge  but  few  obligations.  He  won  his 
way  through  his  savage  world  by  the  might  of  his 
own  muscle,  the  superior  keenness  of  his  five  senses 
and  his  God-given  power  to  reason.  Tonight  the 
greatest  of  all  obligations  had  been  placed  upon  him 
—  his  life  had  been  saved  by  another  and  Tarzan 
shook  his  head  and  growled,  for  it  had  been  saved 
by  one  whom  he  hated  above  all  others. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FINDING  THE  AIUPLANE 

TARZAN  of  the  Apes,  returning  from  a  success 
ful  hunt,  with  the  body  of  Bara,  the  deer, 
across  one  sleek,  brown  shoulder,  paused  in  the 
branches  of  a  great  tree  at  the  edge  of  a  clearing 
and  gazed  ruefully  at  two  figures  walking  from  the 
river  to  the  boma-encircled  hut  a  short  distance 
away. 

The  ape-man  shook  his  tousled  head  and  sighed. 
His  eyes  wandered  toward  the  west  and  his  thoughts 
to  the  far-away  cabin  by  the  land-locked  harbor  of 
the  great  water  that  washed  the  beach  of  his  boyhood 
home  —  to  the  cabin  of  his  long-dead  father  to  which 
the  memories  and  treasures  of  a  happy  childhood 
lured  him.  Since  the  loss  of  his  mate  a  great  long 
ing  had  possessed  him  to  return  to  the  haunts  of  his 
youth  —  to  the  untracked  jungle  wilderness  where 
he  had  lived  the  life  he  loved  best  long  before  man 
had  invaded  the  precincts  of  his  wild  stamping 
grounds.  There  he  hoped  in  a  renewal  of  the  old 
life  under  the  old  conditions  to  win  surcease  from 
sorrow  and  perhaps  some  measure  of  forgetfulness. 

But  the  little  cabin  and  the  land-locked  harbor 
were  many  long,  weary  marches  away,  and  he  was 

199 


200  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

handicapped  by  the  duty  which  he  felt  he  owed  to 
the  two  figures  walking  in  the  clearing  before  him. 
One  was  a  young  man  in  a  worn  and  ragged  uni 
form  of  the  British  Royal  Air  Forces.  The  other, 
a  young  woman  in  the  even  more  disreputable  rem 
nants  of  what  once  had  been  trim  riding  togs. 

A  freak  of  fate  had  thrown  these  three  radically 
different  types  together.  One  was  a  savage,  almost 
naked  beast-man,  one  an  English  army  officer,  and 
the  woman  she  whom  the  ape-man  knew  and  hated 
as  a  German  spy. 

How  he  was  to  get  rid  of  them  Tarzan  could  not 
imagine  unless  he  accompanied  them  upon  the  weary 
march  back  to  the  east  coast,  a  march  that  would 
necessitate  his  once  more  retracing  the  long,  weary 
way  he  already  had  covered  towards  his  goal,  yet 
what  else  could  be  done?  These  two  had  neither 
the  strength,  endurance,  nor  jungle-craft  to  accom 
pany  him  through  the  unknown  country  to  the  west, 
nor  did  he  wish  them  with  him.  The  man  he  might 
have  tolerated,  but  he  could  not  even  consider  the 
presence  of  the  girl  in  the  far-off  cabin,  which  had  in 
&  way  become  sacred  to  him  through  its  memories, 
without  a  growl  of  anger  rising  to  his  lips.  There 
remained,  then,  but  the  one  way  since  he  could  not 
desert  them.  He  must  move  by  slow  and  irksome 
marches  back  to  the  east  coast,  or  at  least  to  the 
first  white  settlement  in  that  direction. 

He  had,  it  is  true,  contemplated  leaving  the  girl 
to  her  fate  but  that  was  before  she  had  been  instru 
mental  in  saving  him  from  torture  and  death  at 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  201 

the  hands  of  the  black  Wamabos.  He  chafed  under 
the  obligation  she  had  put  upon  him,  but  no  less 
did  he  acknowledge  it  and  as  he  watched  the  two, 
the  rueful  expression  upon  his  face  was  lightened 
by  a  smile  as  he  thought  of  the  helplessness  of  them. 
What  a  puny  thing,  indeed,  was  man!  How  ill 
equipped  to  combat  the  savage  forces  of  nature  and 
of  nature's  jungle.  Why,  even  the  tiny  balu  of  the 
tribe  of  Go-lat,  the  great  ape,  was  better  fitted  to 
survive  than  these,  for  a  balu  could  at  least  escape 
the  numerous  creatures  that  menaced  its  existence, 
while  with  the  possible  exception  of  Kota,  the  tor 
toise,  none  moved  so  slowly  as  did  helpless  and  feeble 
man. 

Without  him  these  two  doubtless  would  starve  in 
the  midst  of  plenty,  should  they  by  some  miracle 
escape  the  other  forces  of  destruction  which  con 
stantly  threatened  them.  That  morning  Tarzan  had 
brought  them  fruit,  nuts,  and  plantain,  and  now  he 
was  bringing  them  the  flesh  of  his  kill,  while  the 
best  that  they  might  do  was  to  fetch  water  from  the 
river.  Even  now  as  they  walked  across  the  clearing 
toward  the  boma,  they  were  in  utter  ignorance  of 
the  presence  of  Tarzan  near  them.  They  did  not 
know  that  his  sharp  eyes  were  watching  them,  nor 
that  other  eyes  less  friendly  were  glaring  at  them 
from  a  clump  of  bushes  close  beside  the  boma  en 
trance.  They  did  not  know  these  things,  but  Tarzan 
did.  No  more  than  they,  could  he  see  the  creature 
crouching  in  the  concealment  of  the  foliage,  yet  he 
knew  that  it  was  there  and  what  **  was  and  what 


202  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

its  intentions  precisely  as  well  as  though  it  had  been 
lying  in  the  open. 

A  slight  movement  of  the  leaves  at  the  top  of 
a  single  stem  had  apprised  him  of  the  presence  of 
a  creature  there,  for  the  movement  was  not  that 
imparted  by  the  wind.  It  came  from  pressure  at 
the  bottom  of  the  stem  which  communicates  a  dif 
ferent  movement  to  the  leaves  than  does  the  wind 
passing  among  them,  as  anyone  who  has  lived  his 
lifetime  in  the  jungle  well  knows,  and  the  same  wind 
that  passed  through  the  foliage  of  the  bush  brought 
to  the  ape-man's  sensitive  nostrils  indisputable  evi 
dence  of  the  fact  that  Sheeta,  the  panther,  waited 
there  for  the  two  returning  from  the  river. 

They  had  covered  half  the  distance  to  the  boma 
entrance  when  Tarzan  called  to  them  to  stop.  They 
looked  in  surprise  in  the  direction  from  which  his 
voice  had  come  to  see  him  drop  lightly  to  the  ground 
and  advance  toward  them. 

"  Come  slowly  toward  me,"  he  called  to  them.  "  Do 
not  run  for  if  you  run  Sheeta  will  charge." 

They  did  as  he  bid,  their  faces  filled  with  ques 
tioning  wonderment. 

"  What  do  you  mean'?  "  asked  the  young  English 
man.  "Who  is  Sheeta?"  but  for  answer  the  ape- 
man  suddenly  hurled  the  carcass  of  Bara,  the  deer, 
to  the  ground  and  leaped  quickly  toward  them,  his 
eyes  upon  something  in  their  rear;  and  then  it  was 
that  the  two  turned  and  learned  the  identity  of 
Sheeta,  for  behind  them  was  a  devil-faced  cat  charg 
ing  rapidly  toward  them. 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  203 

Sheeta  with  rising  anger  and  suspicion  had  seen 
the  ape-man  leap  from  the  tree  and  approach  the 
quarry.  His  life's  experiences  backed  by  instinct, 
told  him  that  the  Tarmangani  was  about  to  rob  him 
of  his  prey  and  as  Sheeta  was  hungry,  he  had  no 
intention  of  being  thus  easily  deprived  of  the  flesh 
he  already  considered  his  own. 

The  girl  stifled  an  involuntary  scream  as  she 
saw  the  proximity  of  the  fanged  fury  bearing  down 
upon  them.  She  shrank  close  to  the  man  and  clung 
to  him  and  all  unarmed  and  defenseless  as  he  was, 
the  Englishman  pushed  her  behind  him  and  shielding 
her  with  his  body,  stood  squarely  in  the  face  of  the 
panther's  charge.  Tarzan  noted  the  act,  and  though 
accustomed  as  he  was  to  acts  of  courage,  he  ex 
perienced  a  thrill  from  the  hopeless  and  futile 
bravery  of  the  man. 

The  charging  panther  moved  rapidly,  and  the 
distance  which  separated  the  bush  in  which  he  had 
concealed  himself  from  the  objects  of  his  desire  was 
not  great.  In  the  time  that  one  might  understand- 
ingly  read  a  dozen  words  the  strong-limbed  cat  could 
have  covered  the  entire  distance  and  made  his  kill, 
yet  if  Sheeta  was  quick,  quick  too  was  Tarzan.  The 
English  lieutenant  saw  the  ape-man  flash  by  him 
like  the  wind.  He  saw  the  great  cat  veer  in  his 
charge  as  though  to  elude  the  naked  savage  rushing 
to  meet  him,  as  it  was  evidently  Sheeta's  intention 
to  make  good  his  kill  before  attempting  to  protect 
it  from  Tarzan. 

Lieutenant   Smith-Oldwick  saw  these  things   and 


204  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

then  with  increasing  wonder  he  saw  the  ape-man 
swerve,  too,  and  leap  for  the  spotted  cat  as  a  foot 
ball  player  leaps  for  a  runner.  He  saw  the  strong, 
brown  arms  encircling  the  body  of  the  carnivore, 
the  left  arm  in  front  of  the  beast's  left  shoulder  and 
the  right  arm  behind  his  right  foreleg,  and  with  the 
impact  the  two  together  rolling  over  and  over  upon 
the  turf.  He  heard  the  snarls  and  growls  of  bestial 
combat,  and  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  no  little  horror 
that  he  realized  that  the  sounds  coming  from  the 
human  throat  of  the  battling  man  could  scarce  be 
distinguished  from  those  of  the  panther. 

The  first  momentary  shock  of  terror  over,  the  girl 
released  her  grasp  upon  the  Englishman's  arm. 
"Cannot  we  do  something?"  she  asked.  "Cannot 
we  help  him  before  the  beast  kills  him  ?  " 

The  Englishman  looked  upon  the  ground  for  some 
missile  with  which  to  attack  the  panther  and  then 
the  girl  uttered  an  exclamation  and  started  at  a 
run  toward  the  hut.  "Wait  there,"  she  called  over 
her  shoulder.  "I  will  fetch  the  spear  that  he  left 
me." 

Smith-Oldwick  saw  the  raking  talons  of  the 
panther  searching  for  the  flesh  of  the  man  and  the 
man  on  his  part  straining  every  muscle  and  using 
every  artifice  to  keep  his  body  out  of  range  of  them. 
The  muscles  of  his  arms  knotted  under  the  brown 
hide.  The  veins  stood  out  upon  his  neck  and  fore 
head  as  with  ever-increasing  power  he  strove  to  crush 
the  life  from  the  great  cat.  The  ape-man's  teeth 
were  fastened  in  the  back  of  Sheeta's  neck  and  now 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  205 

he  succeeded  in  encircling  the  beast's  torso  with  his 
legs  which  he  crossed  and  locked  beneath  the  cat's 
belly.  Leaping  and  snarling,  Sheeta  sought  to  dis 
lodge  the  ape-man's  hold  upon  him.  He  hurled  him 
self  upon  the  ground  and  rolled  over  and  over.  He 
reared  upon  his  hind  legs  and  threw  himself  back 
wards  but  always  the  savage  creature  upon  his  back 
clung  tenaciously  to  him,  and  always  the  mighty 
brown  arms  crushed  tighter  and  tighter  about  his 
chest. 

And  then  the  girl,  panting  from  her  quick  run, 
returned  with  the  short  spear  Tarzan  had  left  her 
as  her  sole  weapon  of  protection.  She  did  not  wait 
to  hand  it  to  the  Englishman  who  ran  forward  to 
receive  it,  but  brushed  past  him  and  leaped  into  close 
quarters  beside  the  growling,  tumbling  mass  of  yel 
low  fur  and  smooth  brown  hide.  Several  times  she 
attempted  to  press  the  point  home  into  the  cat's 
body,  but  on  both  occasions  the  fear  of  endangering 
the  ape-man  caused  her  to  desist,  but  at  last  the  two 
lay  motionless  for  a  moment  as  the  carnivore  sought 
a  moment's  rest  from  the  strenuous  exertions  of  bat 
tle,  and  then  it  was  that  Bertha  Kircher  pressed  the 
point  of  the  spear  to  the  tawny  side  and  drove  it 
deep  into  the  savage  heart. 

Tarzan  rose  from  the  dead  body  of  Sheeta  and 
shook  himself  after  the  manner  of  beasts  that  are 
entirely  clothed  with  hair.  Like  many  other  of  his 
traits  and  mannerisms  this  was  the  result  of  environ 
ment  rather  than  heredity  or  reversion,  and  even 
though  he  was  outwardly  a  man,  the  Englishman  and 


206  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  girl  were  both  impressed  with  the  naturalness 
of  the  act.  It  was  as  though  Numa,  emerging  from 
a  fight,  had  shaken  himself  to  straighten  his  rumpled 
mane  and  coat  and  yet,  too,  there  was  something  un 
canny  about  it  as  there  had  been  when  the  savage 
growls  and  hideous  snarls  issued  from  those  clean- 
cut  lips. 

Tarzan  looked  at  the  girl,  a  quizzical  expression 
upon  his  face.  Again  had  she  placed  him  under 
obligations  to  her  and  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  did  not 
wish  to  be  obligated  to  a  German  spy;  yet  in  his 
honest  heart  he  could  not  but  admit  a  certain 
admiration  for  her  courage,  a  trait  which  always 
greatly  impressed  the  ape-man,  he  himself  the  per 
sonification  of  courage. 

"Here  is  the  kill,"  he  said,  picking  the  carcass 
of  Bara  from  the  ground.  "You  will  want  to  cook 
your  portion,  I  presume,  but  Tarzan  does  not  spoil 
his  meat  with  fire." 

They  followed  him  to  the  boma  where  he  cut  sev 
eral  pieces  of  meat  from  the  carcass  for  them,  retain 
ing  a  joint  for  himself.  The  young  lieutenant  pre 
pared  a  fire,  and  the  girl  presided  over  the  primitive 
culinary  rights  of  their  simple  meal.  As  she  worked 
some  little  way  apart  from  them,  the  lieutenant  and 
the  ape-man  watched  her. 

"She  is  wonderful.  Is  she  not?"  murmured 
Smith-Oldwick. 

"She  is  a  German  and  a  spy,"  replied  Tarzan. 

The  Englishman  turned  quickly  upon  him. 
"What  do  you  mean?"  he  cried. 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  207 

"  I  mean  what  I  say,"  replied  the  ape-man.  "  She 
is  a  German  and  a  spy." 

"I  do  not  believe  it!"  exclaimed  the  aviator. 

"  You  do  not  have  to,"  Tarzan  assured  him.  "  It 
is  nothing  to  me  what  you  believe.  I  saw  her  in  con 
ference  with  the  Boche  general  and  his  staff  at  the 
camp  near  Taveta.  They  all  knew  her  and  called 
her  by  name  and  she  handed  him  a  paper.  The 
next  time  I  saw  her  she  was  inside  the  British  lines 
in  disguise,  and  again  I  saw  her  bearing  word  to  a 
German  officer  at  Wilhelmstal.  She  is  a  German  and 
a  spy,  but  she  is  a  woman  and  therefore  I  cannot 
destroy  her." 

"  You  really  believe  that  what  you  say  is  true  ?  " 
asked  the  young  lieutenant.  "My  God!  I  cannot 
believe  it.  She  is  so  sweet  and  brave  and  good." 

The  ape-man  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  She  is 
brave,"  he  said,  "  but  even  Pamba,  the  rat,  must  have 
some  good  quality,  but  she  is  what  I  have  told  you 
and  therefore  I  hate  her  and  you  should  hate  her." 

Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  buried 
his  face  in  his  hands.  "  God  forgive  me,"  he  said  at 
last ;  "  I  cannot  hate  her." 

The  ape-man  cast  a  contemptuous  look  at  his  com 
panion  and  arose.  "Tarzan  goes  again  to  hunt," 
he  said.  "You  have  enough  food  for  two  days. 
By  that  time  he  will  return." 

The  two  watched  him  until  he  had  disappeared  in 
the  foliage  of  the  trees  at  the  further  side  of  the 
clearing. 

When  he  had  gone  the  girl  felt  a  vague  sense  of 


208  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

apprehension  that  she  never  experienced  when  Tar- 
zan  was  present.  The  invisible  menaces  lurking  in 
the  grim  jungle  seemed  more  real  and  much  more 
imminent  now  that  the  ape-man  was  no  longer  near. 
While  he  had  been  there  talking  with  them  the  little 
thatched  hut  and  its  surrounding  thorn  boma  had 
seemed  as  safe  a  place  as  the  world  might  afford. 
She  wished  that  he  had  remained — two  days  seemed 
an  eternity  in  contemplation  —  two  days  of  constant 
fear,  two  days,  every  moment  of  which  would  be 
fraught  with  danger.  She  turned  toward  her 
companion. 

"I  wish  that  he  had  remained,"  she  said.  "I 
always  feel  so  much  safer  when  he  is  near.  He  is 
very  grim  and  very  terrible  and  yet  I  feel  safer  with 
him  than  with  any  man  I  ever  have  known.  He 
seems  to  dislike  me  and  yet  I  know  that  he  would  let 
no  harm  befall  me.  I  cannot  understand  him." 

"  Neither  do  I  understand  him,"  replied  the  Eng 
lishman;  "but  I  know  this  much  —  our  presence  here 
is  interfering  with  his  plans.  He  would  like  to  be 
rid  of  us,  and  I  half  imagine  that  he  rather  hopes 
to  find  when  he  returns  that  we  have  succumbed  to 
one  of  the  dangers  which  must  always  confront  us 
in  this  savage  land. 

"  I  think  that  we  should  try  to  return  to  the  white 
settlements.  This  man  does  not  want  us  here,  nor  is 
it  reasonable  to  assume  that  we  could  long  survive  in 
such  a  savage  wilderness.  I  have  traveled  and 
hunted  in  several  parts  of  Africa,  but  never  have  I 
seen  or  heard  of  any  single  locality  so  over-run  with 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  209 

savage  beasts  and  dangerous  natives.  If  we  set  out 
for  the  east  coast  at  once  we  would  be  in  but  little 
more  danger  than  we  are  here  and  if  we  could  survive 
a  day's  march,  I  believe  that  we  will  find  the  means 
of  reaching  the  coast  in  a  few  hours,  for  my  plane 
must  still  be  in  the  same  place  that  I  landed  just 
before  the  blacks  captured  me.  Of  course  there  is 
no  one  here  who  could  operate  it  nor  is  there  any 
reason  why  they  should  have  destroyed  it.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  natives  would  be  so  fearful  and 
suspicious  of  so  strange  and  incomprehensible  a 
thing  that  the  chances  are  they  would  not  dare  ap 
proach  it.  Yes,  it  must  be  where  I  left  it  and  all 
ready  to  carry  us  safely  to  the  settlements." 

"But  we  cannot  leave,"  said  the  girl,  "until  he 
returns.  We  could  not  go  away  like  that  without 
thanking  him  or  bidding  him  farewell.  We  are 
under  too  great  obligations  to  him." 

The  man  looked  at  her  in  silence  for  a  moment. 
He  wondered  if  she  knew  how  Tarzan  felt  toward  her 
and  then  he  himself  began  to  speculate  upon  the 
truth  of  the  ape-man's  charges.  The  longer  he 
looked  at  the  girl,  the  less  easy  was  it  to  entertain 
the  thought  that  she  was  an  enemy  spy.  He  was 
upon  the  point  of  asking  her  point-blank  but  he 
could  not  bring  himself  to  do  so,  finally  determining 
to  wait  until  time  and  longer  acquaintance  should 
reveal  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  accusation. 

"I  believe,"  he  said  as  though  there  had  been 
no  pause  in  their  conversation,  "  that  the  man  would 
be  more  than  glad  to  find  us  gone  when  he  returns. 


210  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

It  is  not  necessary  to  jeopardize  our  lives  for  two 
more  days  in  order  that  we  may  thank  him,  how 
ever  much  we  may  appreciate  his  services  to  us. 
You  have  more  than  balanced  your  obligations  to 
him  and  from  what  he  told  me  I  feel  that  you  espe 
cially  should  not  remain  here  longer." 

The  girl  looked  up  at  him  in  astonishment. 
"What  do  you  mean?"  she  asked. 

"I  do  not  like  to  tell,"  said  the  Englishman, 
digging  nervously  at  the  turf  with  the  point  of  a 
stick,  "but  you  have  my  word  that  he  would  rather 
you  were  not  here/* 

"Tell  me  what  he  said,"  she  insisted,  "I  have  a 
right  to  know." 

Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  squared  his  shoulders 
and  raised  his  eyes  to  those  of  the  girl.  "He  said 
that  he  hated  you,"  he  blurted.  "  He  has  only  aided 
you  at  all  from  a  sense  of  duty  because  you  are  a 
woman." 

The  girl  paled  and  then  flushed.  "  I  will  be  ready 
to  go,"  she  said,  "  in  just  a  moment.  We  had  better 
take  some  of  this  meat  with  us.  There  is  no  telling 
when  we  will  be  able  to  get  more." 

And  so  the  two  set  out  down  the  river  toward  the 
south.  The  man  carried  the  short  spear  that  Tar- 
zan  had  left  with  the  girl,  while  she  was  entirely- 
unarmed  except  for  a  stick  she  had  picked  up  from 
among  those  left  after  the  building  of  the  hut. 
Before  departing  she  had  insisted  that  the  man 
leave  a  note  for  Tarzan  thanking  him  for  his  care 
of  them  and  bidding  him  good-bye.  This  they  left 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE 


pinned  to  the  inside  wall  of  tbe  hut  with  a  little 
sliver  of  wood. 

It  was  necessary  that  they  be  constantly  on  the 
alert  since  they  never  knew  what  might  confront 
them  at  the  next  turn  of  the  winding  jungle  trail  or 
what  might  lie  concealed  in  the  tangled  bushes  at 
either  side.  There  was  also  the  ever-present  danger 
of  meeting  some  of  Numabo's  black  warriors  and  as 
the  village  lay  directly  in  their  line  of  march,  there 
was  the  necessity  for  making  a  wide  detour  before 
they  reached  it  in  order  to  pass  around  it  without 
being  discovered. 

"I  am  not  so  much  afraid  of  the  native  blacks," 
said  the  girl,  "  as  I  am  of  Usanga  and  his  people. 
He  and  his  men  were  all  attached  to  a  German  native 
regiment.  They  brought  me  along  with  them  when 
they  deserted,  either  with  the  intention  of  holding 
me  for  ransom  or  selling  me  into  the  harem  of  one 
of  the  black  sultans  of  the  north.  Usanga  is  much 
more  to  be  feared  than  Numabo  for  he  has  had  the 
advantages  of  European  military  training  and  is 
armed  with  more  or  less  modern  weapons  and 
ammunition." 

"It  is  lucky  for  me,"  remarked  the  Englishman, 
"that  it  was  the  ignorant  Numabo  who  discovered 
and  captured  me  rather  than  the  worldly  wise 
Usanga.  He  would  have  felt  less  fear  of  the  giant 
flying  machine  and  would  have  known  only  too  well 
how  to  wreck  it." 

"  Let  us  pray  that  the  black  sergeant  has  not  dis 
covered  it,"  said  the 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


They  made  their  way  to  a  point  which  they 
guessed  was  about  a  mile  above  the  village,  then  they 
turned  into  the  trackless  tangle  of  undergrowth  to 
the  east.  So  dense  was  the  verdure  at  many  points 
that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  they  wormed 
their  way  through,  sometimes  on  hands  and  knees 
and  again  by  clambering  over  numerous  fallen  tree 
trunks.  Interwoven  with  dead  limbs  and  living 
branches  were  the  tough  and  ropelike  creepers  which 
formed  a  tangled  network  across  their  path. 

South  of  them  in  an  open  meadowland  a  number 
of  black  warriors  were  gathered  about  an  object 
which  elicited  much  wondering  comment.  The  blacks 
were  clothed  in  fragments  of  what  had  once  been 
uniforms  of  a  native  German  command.  They  were 
a  most  unlovely  band  and  chief  among  them  in  au 
thority  and  repulsiveness  was  the  black  sergeant 
Usanga.  The  object  of  their  interest  was  a  British 
aeroplane. 

Immediately  after  the  Englishman  had  been 
brought  to  Numabo's  village  Usanga  had  gone  out 
in  search  of  the  plane,  prompted  partially  by  curi 
osity  and  partially  by  an  intention  to  destroy  it, 
but  when  he  had  found  it,  some  new  thought  had 
deterred  him  from  carrying  out  his  design.  The 
thing  represented  considerable  value  as  he  well  knew 
and  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  in  some  way  he 
might  turn  his  prize  to  profit.  Every  day  he  had 
returned  to  it,  and  while  at  first  it  had  filled  him 
with  considerable  awe,  he  eventually  came  to  look 
upon  it  with  the  accustomed  eye  of  a  proprietor, 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  213 

so  that  he  now  clambered  into  the  fuselage  and  even 
advanced  so  far  as  to  wish  that  he  might  learn  to 
operate  it. 

What  a  feat  it  would  be  indeed  to  fly  like  a  bird 
far  above  the  highest  tree  top !  How  it  would  fill 
his  less  favored  companions  with  awe  and  admira 
tion  !  If  Usanga  could  but  fly,  so  great  would  be  the 
respect  of  all  the  tribesmen  throughout  the  scattered 
villages  of  the  great  interior,  they  would  look  upon 
him  as  little  less  than  a  god. 

Usanga  rubbed  his  palms  together  and  smacked 
his  thick  lips.  Then  indeed,  would  he  be  very  rich 
for  all  the  villages  would  pay  tribute  to  him  and  he 
could  even  have  as  many  as  a  dozen  wives.  With 
that  thought,  however,  came  a  mental  picture  of 
Naratu,  the  black  termagant,  who  ruled  him  with  an 
iron  hand.  Usanga  made  a  wry  face  and  tried  to 
forget  the  extra  dozen  wives,  but  the  lure  of  the 
idea  remained  and  appealed  so  strongly  to  him  that 
he  presently  found  himself  reasoning  most  logically 
that  a  god  would  not  be  much  of  a  god  with  less 
than  twenty-four  wives. 

He  fingered  the  instruments  and  the  control  half 
hoping  and  half  fearing  that  he  would  alight  upon 
the  combination  that  would  put  the  machine  in 
flight.  Often  had  he  watched  the  British  air-men 
soaring  above  the  German  lines  and  it  looked  so 
simple  he  was  quite  sure  that  he  could  do  it  him 
self  if  there  was  somebody  who  could  but  once  show 
him  how.  There  was,  of  course,  always  the  hope 
that  the  white  man  who  came  in  the  machine  and 


214  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

who  had  escaped  from  Numabo's  village  might  fall 
into  Usanga's  hands  and  then  indeed  would  he  be 
able  to  learn  how  to  fly.  It  was  in  this  hope  that 
Usanga  spent  so  much  time  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
plane,  reasoning  as  he  did  that  eventually  the  white 
man  would  return  in  search  of  it. 

And  at  last  he  was  rewarded,  for  upon  this  v«ry 
day  after  he  had  quit  the  machine  and  entered  the 
jungle  with  his  warriors  he  heard  voices  to  the 
north  and  when  he  and  his  men  had  hidden  in  the 
dense  foliage  upon  either  side  of  the  trail,  Usanga 
was  presently  filled  with  elation  by  the  appearance 
of  the  British  officer  and  the  white  girl  whom  the 
black  sergeant  had  coveted  and  who  had  escaped 
him. 

The  Negro  could  scarce  restrain  a  shout  of  ela 
tion,  for  he  had  not  hoped  that  fate  would  be  so 
kind  as  to  throw  these  two  whom  he  most  desired 
into  his  power  at  the  same  time. 

As  the  two  came  down  the  trail  all  unconscious 
of  impending  danger,  the  man  was  explaining  that 
they  must  be  very  close  to  the  point  at  which  the 
plane  had  landed.  Their  entire  attention  was  cen 
tered  on  the  trail  directly  ahead  of  them  as  they 
momentarily  expected  it  to  break  into  the  meadow- 
land  where  they  were  sure  they  would  see  the  plane 
that  would  spell  life  and  liberty  for  them. 

The  trail  was  broad  and  they  were  walking  side 
by  side  so  that  at  a  sharp  turn  the  parklike  clearing 
was  revealed  to  them  simultaneously  as  were  the 
outlines  of  the  machine  they  sought. 


FINDING  THE  AIRPLANE  215 

Exclamations  of  relief  and  delight  broke  from 
their  lips  and  at  the  same  instant  Usanga  and  his 
black  warriors  rose  from  the  bushes  all  about  them. 


CHAPTER  XH 

THE  BLACK   FLIEU 

THE  girl  was  almost  crushed  by  terror  and  dis 
appointment.  To  have  been  thus  close  to 
safety  and  then  to  have  all  hope  snatched  away 
by  a  cruel  stroke  of  fate  seemed  unendurable.  The 
man  was  disappointed,  too,  but  more  was  he  angry. 
He  noted  the  remnants  of  the  uniforms  upon  the 
blacks  and  immediately  he  demanded  to  know  where 
were  their  officers. 

"  They  cannot  understand  you,"  said  the  girl  and 
so  in  the  bastard  tongue  that  is  the  medium  of  com 
munication  between  the  Germans  and  the  blacks 
of  their  colony,  she  repeated  the  white  man's 
question. 

Usanga  grinned.  "You  know  where  they  are, 
white  woman,"  he  replied.  "They  are  dead  and  if 
this  white  man  does  not  do  as  I  tell  him,  he,  too, 
will  be  dead." 

"What  do  you  want  of  him?"  asked  the  girl. 

"I  want  him  to  teach  me  how  to  fly  like  a  bird," 
replied  Usanga. 

Bertha  Kircher  looked  her  astonishment  but 
repeated  the  demand  to  the  lieutenant. 

The  Englishman  meditated  for  a  moment.     "He 
216 


THE  BLACK  FLIER  217 

wants  to  learn  to  fly,  does  he?"  he  repeated.  "Ask 
him  if  he  will  give  us  our  freedom  if  I  teach  Hm 
to  fly." 

The  girl  put  the  question  to  Usanga  who,  de 
graded,  cunning  and  entirely  unprincipled,  was 
always  perfectly  willing  to  promise  anything  whether 
he  had  any  intentions  of  fulfilling  his  promises  or 
not,  and  so  immediately  assented  to  the  proposition. 

"Let  the  white  man  teach  me  to  fly,"  he  said, 
"and  I  will  take  you  back  close  to  the  settlements 
of  your  people,  but  in  return  for  this  I  shall  keep 
the  great  bird,"  and  he  waved  a  black  hand  in  the 
direction  of  the  aeroplane. 

When  Bertha  Eircher  had  repeated  Usanga's 
proposition  to  the  aviator,  the  latter  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  with  a  wry  face  finally  agreed.  "I 
fancy  there  is  no  other  way  out  of  it,"  he  said.  "  In 
any  event  the  plane  is  lost  to  the  British  govern 
ment.  If  I  refuse  the  black  scoundrel's  request, 
there  is  no  doubt  but  what  he  will  make  short  work 
of  me  with  the  result  that  the  machine  will  lie  here 
until  it  rots.  If  I  accept  his  offer  it  will  at  least  be 
the  means  of  assuring  your  safe  return  to  civilization 
and  that "  he  added,  "  is  worth  more  to  me  than  all 
the  planes  in  the  British  Air  Service." 

The  girl  cast  a  quick  glance  at  him.  These  were 
the  first  words  he  had  addressed  to  her  that  might 
indicate  that  his  sentiments  toward  her  were  more 
than  those  of  a  companion  in  distress.  She  regretted 
that  he  had  spoken  as  he  had  and  he,  too,  regretted 
it  almost  instantly  as  he  saw  the  shadow  cross  her 


218  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

face  and  realized  that  he  had  unwittingly  added  to 
the  difficulties  of  her  already  almost  unbearable 
situation. 

"Forgive  me,"  he  said  quickly.  "Please  forget 
what  that  remark  implied.  I  promise  you  that  I 
will  not  offend  again,  if  it  does  offend  you,  until 
after  we  are  both  safely  out  of  this  mess." 

She  smiled  and  thanked  him,  but  the  thing  had 
been  said  and  could  never  be  unsaid,  and  Bertha 
Kircher  knew  even  more  surely  than  as  though  he 
had  fallen  upon  his  knees  and  protested  undying 
devotion,  that  the  young  English  officer  loved  her. 

Usanga  was  for  taking  his  first  lesson  in  aviation 
immediately.  The  Englishman  attempted  to  dis 
suade  him,  but  immediately  the  black  became  threat 
ening  and  abusive  since,  like  all  those  who  are 
ignorant,  he  was  suspicious  that  the  intentions  of 
others  were  always  ulterior  unless  they  perfectly 
coincided  with  his  wishes. 

"All  right,  old  top,"  muttered  the  Englishman, 
"I  will  give  you  the  lesson  of  your  life,"  and  then 
turning  to  the  girl:  "Persuade  him  to  let  you 
accompany  us.  I  shall  be  afraid  to  leave  you  here 
with  these  devilish  scoundrels."  But  when  she  put 
the  suggestion  to  Usanga  the  black  immediately  sus 
pected  some  plan  to  thwart  him  —  possibly  to  carry 
him  against  his  will  back  to  the  German  masters  he 
had  traitorously  deserted,  and  glowering  at  her 
savagely,  he  obstinately  refused  to  entertain  the  sug 
gestion. 

"The   white   woman   will   remain   here   with    my 


THE  BLACK  FLIER  2W 

people,"  he  said.  "They  will  not  harm  her  unless 
you  fail  to  bring  me  back  safely." 

"Tell  him,"  said  the  Englishman,  "that  if  you 
are  not  standing  in  plain  sight  in  this  meadow  when 
I  return,  I  will  not  land,  but  will  carry  Usanga 
back  to  the  British  camp  and  have  him  hanged." 

Usanga  promised  that  the  girl  would  be  in  evi 
dence  upon  their  return,  and  took  immediate  steps 
to  impress  upon  his  warriors  that  under  penalty  of 
death  they  must  not  harm  her.  Then,  followed  by 
the  other  members  of  his  party,  he  crossed  the  clear 
ing  toward  the  plane  with  the  Englishman.  Once 
seated  within  what  he  already  considered  his  new 
possession,  the  black's  courage  began  to  wane  and 
when  the  motor  was  started  and  the  great  propeller 
commenced  to  whir,  he  screamed  to  the  Englishman 
to  stop  the  thing  and  permit  him  to  alight,  but  the 
aviator  could  neither  hear  nor  understand  the  black 
above  the  noise  of  the  propeller  and  exhaust.  By 
this  time  the  plane  was  moving  along  the  ground 
and  even  then  Usanga  was  upon  the  verge  of  leaping 
out,  and  would  have  done  so  had  he  been  able  to 
unfasten  the  strap  from  about  his  waist.  Then  the 
plane  rose  from  the  ground  and  in  a  moment  soared 
gracefully  in  a  wide  circle  until  it  topped  the  trees. 
The  black  sergeant  was  in  a  veritable  collapse  of 
terror.  He  saw  the  earth  dropping  rapidly  from 
beneath  him.  He  saw  the  trees  and  river  and  at  a 
distance  the  little  clearing  with  the  thatched  huts  of 
Numabo's  village.  He  tried  hard  not  to  think  of 
the  results  of  a  sudden  fall  to  the  rapidly  receding 


220  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ground  below.  He  attempted  to  concentrate  his 
mind  upon  the  twenty-four  wives  which  this  great 
bird  most  assuredly  would  permit  him  to  command. 
Higher  and  higher  rose  the  plane,  swinging  in  a  wide 
circle  above  the  forest,  river,  and  meadowland  and 
presently,  much  to  his  surprise,  Usanga  discovered 
that  his  terror  was  rapidly  waning  so  that  it  was 
not  long  before  there  was  forced  upon  him  a  con 
sciousness  of  utter  security,  and  then  it  was  that  he 
began  to  take  notice  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
white  man  guided  and  manipulated  the  plane. 

After  half  an  hour  of  skilful  maneuvering,  the 
Englishman  rose  rapidly  to  a  considerable  altitude 
and  then  suddenly  without  warning,  he  looped  and 
flew  with  the  plane  inverted  for  a  few  seconds. 

"  I  said  I'd  give  this  beggar  the  lesson  of  his  life," 
he  murmured  as  he  heard,  even  above  the  whir  of 
the  propeller,  the  shriek  of  the  terrified  Negro. 
A  moment  later  Smith-Oldwick  had  righted  the  ma 
chine  and  was  dropping  rapidly  toward  the  earth. 
He  circled  slowly  a  few  times  above  the  meadow  until 
he  had  assured  himself  that  Bertha  Kircher  was 
there  and  apparently  unharmed,  then  he  dropped 
gently  to  the  ground  so  that  the  machine  came  to 
a  stop  a  short  distance  from  where  the  girl  and 
the  warriors  awaited  them. 

It  was  a  trembling  and  ashen-hued  Usanga  who 
tumbled  out  of  the  fuselage,  for  his  nerves  were  still 
on  edge  as  a  result  of  the  harrowing  experience  of 
the  loop,  yet  with  terra  firma  once  more  under  foot, 
he  quickly  regained  his  composure.  Strutting  about 


THE  BLACK  FLIER 


with  great  show  and  braggadocio,  he  strove  to  im 
press  his  followers  with  the  mere  nothingness  of  so 
trivial  a  feat  as  flying  birdlike  thousands  of  yards 
above  the  jungle,  though  it  was  long  until  he  had 
thoroughly  convinced  himself  by  the  force  of  auto 
suggestion  that  he  had  enjoyed  every  instant  of  the 
flight  and  was  already  far  advanced  in  the  art  of 
aviation. 

So  jealous  was  tne  black  of  his  new-found  toy  that 
he  would  not  return  to  the  village  of  Numabo,  but 
insisted  on  making  camp  close  beside  the  plane  lest 
in  some  inconceivable  fashion  it  should  be  stolen 
from  him.  For  two  days  they  camped  there,  and 
constantly  during  daylight  hours  Usanga  compelled 
the  Englishman  to  instruct  him  in  the  art  of  flying. 

Smith-Oldwick  in  recalling  the  long  months  of 
arduous  training  he  had  undergone  himself  before 
he  had  been  considered  sufficiently  adept  to  be 
considered  a  finished  fiier,  smiled  at  the  conceit  of 
the  ignorant  African  who  was  already  demanding 
that  he  be  permitted  to  make  a  flight  alone. 

"  If  it  was  not  for  losing  the  machine,"  the  Eng 
lishman  explained  to  the  girl,  "I'd  let  the  bounder 
take  it  up  and  break  his  fool  neck  as  he  would  do 
inside  of  two  minutes." 

However,  he  finally  persuaded  Usanga  to  bide  his 
time  for  a  few  more  days  of  instruction,  but  in  the 
suspicious  mind  of  the  Negro  there  was  a  growing 
conviction  that  the  white  man's  advice  was  prompted 
by  some  ulterior  motive;  that  it  was  in  the  hope  of 
escaping  with  the  machine  himself  by  night  that  he 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


refused  to  admit  that  Usanga  was  entirely  capable 
of  handling  it  alone  and  therefore  in  no  further  need 
of  help  or  instruction,  and  so  in  the  mind  of  the 
black  there  formed  a  determination  to  outwit  the 
white  man.  The  lure  of  the  twenty-four  seductive 
wives  proved  in  itself  a  sufficient  incentive  and  there, 
too,  was  added  his  desire  for  the  white  girl  whom 
he  had  long  since  determined  to  possess. 

It  was  with  these  thoughts  in  mind  that  Usanga 
lay  down  to  sleep  in  the  evening  of  the  second  day. 
Constantly,  however,  the  thought  of  Naratu  and  her 
temper  arose  to  take  the  keen  edge  from  his  pleasant 
imaginings.  If  he  could  but  rid  himself  of  her!  The 
thought  having  taken  form  persisted,  but  always  it 
was  more  than  outweighed  by  the  fact  that  the  black 
sergeant  was  actually  afraid  of  his  woman,  so  much 
afraid  of  her  in  fact  that  he  would  not  have  dared 
to  attempt  to  put  her  out  of  the  way  unless  he  coulc 
do  so  secretly  while  she  slept.  However,  as  one  plan 
after  another  was  conjured  by  the  strength  of  his 
desires,  he  at  last  hit  upon  one  which  came  to  him 
almost  with  the  force  of  a  blow  and  brought  him 
sitting  upright  among  his  sleeping  companions. 

When  morning  dawned  Usanga  could  scarce  wait 
for  an  opportunity  to  put  his  scheme  into  execution, 
and  the  moment  that  he  had  eaten,  he  called  several 
of  his  warriors  aside  and  talked  with  them  for  some 
moments. 

The  Englishman,  who  usually  kept  an  eye  upon 
his  black  captor,  saw  now  that  the  latter  was  explain 
ing  something  in  detail  to  his  warriors,  and  from  his 


THE  BLACK  FLIER  223 

gestures  and  his  manner  it  was  apparent  that  he  was 
persuading  them  to  some  new  plan  as  well  as  giving 
them  instructions  as  to  what  they  were  to  do.  Sev 
eral  times,  too,  he  saw  the  eyes  of  the  Negroes  turned 
upon  him  and  once  they  flashed  simultaneously 
toward  the  white  girl. 

Everything  about  the  occurrence,  which  in  itself 
seemed  trivial  enough,  aroused  in  the  mind  of  the 
Englishman  a  well-defined  apprehension  that  some 
thing  was  afoot  that  boded  ill  for  him  and  for  the 
girl.  He  could  not  free  himself  of  the  idea  and  so 
he  kept  a  still  closer  watch  over  the  black  although, 
as  he  was  forced  to  admit  to  himself,  he  was  quite 
powerless  to  avert  any  fate  that  lay  in  store  for 
them.  Even  the  spear  that  he  had  had  when  cap 
tured  had  been  taken  from  him,  so  that  now  he 
was  unarmed  and  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  the 
black  sergeant  and  his  followers. 

Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  did  not 
have  long  to  wait  before  discovering  something  of 
Usanga's  plan,  for  almost  immediately  after  the 
sergeant  finished  giving  his  instructions,  a  number 
of  warriors  approached  the  Englishman,  while  three 
went  directly  to  the  girl. 

Without  a  word  of  explanation  the  warriors 
seized  the  young  officer  and  threw  him  to  the  ground 
upon  his  face.  For  a  moment  he  struggled  to  free 
himself  and  succeeded  in  landing  a  few  heavy  blows 
among  his  assailants,  but  he  was  too  greatly  out 
numbered  to  hope  to  more  than  delay  them  in  the 
accomplishment  of  their  object  which  he  soon  dis- 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


covered  was  to  bind  him  securely  hand  and  foot. 
When  they  had  finally  secured  him  to  their  satis 
faction,  they  rolled  him  over  on  his  side  and  then 
it  was  he  saw  that  Bertha  Kircher  had  been  simi 
larly  trussed. 

Smith-Oldwick  lay  in  such  a  position  that  he 
could  see  nearly  the  entire  expanse  of  meadow  and 
the  aeroplane  a  short  distance  away.  Usanga  was 
talking  to  the  girl  who  was  shaking  her  head  in 
vehement  negatives. 

"What  is  he  saying?"  called  the  Englishman. 

"He  is  going  to  take  me  away  in  the  plane,"  the 
girl  called  back.  "He  is  going  to  take  me  farther 
inland  to  another  country  where  he  says  that  he 
will  be  king  and  I  am  to  be  one  of  his  wives,"  and 
then  to  the  Englishman's  surprise  she  turned  a 
smiling  face  toward  him,  "but  there  is  no  danger," 
she  continued,  "  for  we  shall  both  be  dead  within  a 
few  minutes  —  just  give  him  time  enough  to  get 
the  machine  under  way  and  if  he  can  rise  a  hundred 
feet  from  the  ground  I  shall  never  need  fear  him 
more." 

"God!"  cried  the  man.  "Is  there  no  way  that 
you  can  cKssuade  him?  Promise  him  anything. 
Anything  that  you  want.  I  have  money,  more 
money  than  that  poor  fool  could  imagine  there  was 
in  the  whole  world.  With  it  he  can  buy  anything 
that  money  will  purchase,  fine  clothes  and  food  and 
women,  all  the  women  he  wants.  Tell  him  this  and 
tell  him  that  if  he  will  spare  you  I  give  him  my 
word  that  I  will  fetch  it  all  to  him." 


THE  BLACK  FLIER  225 

The  girl  shook  her  head.  "  It  is  useless,"  she 
said.  "He  would  not  understand  and  if  he  did 
understand,  he  would  not  trust  you.  The  blacks 
are  so  unprincipled  themselves  that  they  can  imagine 
no  such  thing  as  principle  or  honor  in  others,  and 
especially  do  these  blacks  distrust  an  Englishman 
whom  the  Germans  have  taught  them  to  believe  are 
the  most  treacherous  and  degraded  of  people.  No, 
it  is  better  thus.  I  am  sorry  that  you  cannot  go 
with  us,  for  if  he  goes  high  enough  my  death  will 
be  much  easier  than  that  which  probably  awaits 
you." 

Usanga  had  been  continually  interrupting  their 
brief  conversation  in  an  attempt  to  compel  the  girl 
to  translate  it  to  him,  for  he  feared  that  they  were 
concocting  some  plan  to  thwart  him,  and  to  quiet 
and  appease  him,  she  told  him  that  the  Englishman 
was  merely  bidding  her  farewell  and  wishing  her 
good  luck.  Suddenly  she  turned  to  the  black.  "  Will 
you  do  something  for  me?"  she  asked.  "If  I  go 
willingly  with  you?" 

"  What  is  it  you  want  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Tell  your  men  to  free  the  white  man  after  we 
are  gone.  He  can  never  catch  us.  That  is  all  I 
ask  of  you.  If  you  will  grant  him  his  freedom  and 
his  life,  I  will  go  willingly  with  you." 

"You  will  go  with  me  anyway,"  growled  Usanga. 
"  It  is  nothing  to  me  whether  you  go  willingly  or 
not.  I  am  going  to  be  a  great  king  and  you  will  do 
whatever  I  tell  you  to  do." 

He   had   in   mind   that   he   would   start   properly 


226  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

with  this  woman.  There  should  be  no  repetition  of 
his  harrowing  experience  with  Naratu.  This  wife 
and  the  twenty-four  others  should  be  carefully 
selected  and  well  trained.  Hereafter  Usanga  would 
be  master  in  his  own  house. 

Bertha  Kircher  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  appeal 
to  the  brute  and  so  she  held  her  peace  though  she 
was  filled  with  sorrow  in  contemplating  the  fate  that 
awaited  the  young  officer,  scarce  more  than  a  boy, 
who  had  impulsively  revealed  his  love  for  her. 

At  Usanga's  order  one  of  the  blacks  lifted  her 
from  the  ground  and  carried  her  to  the  machine, 
and  after  Usanga  had  clambered  aboard,  they  lifted 
her  up  and  he  reached  down  and  drew  her  into  the 
fuselage  where  he  removed  the  thongs  from  her 
wrists  and  strapped  her  into  her  seat  and  then 
took  his  own  directly  ahead  of  her. 

The  girl  turned  her  eyes  toward  the  Englishman. 
She  was  very  pale  but  her  lips  smiled  bravely. 

"  Good-bye ! "  she  cried. 

"Good-bye,  and  God  bless  you!"  he  called  back — 
his  voice  the  least  bit  husky  —  and  then:  "The 
thing  I  wanted  to  say  —  may  I  say  it  now,  we  are 
so  very  near  the  end  ?  " 

Her  lips  moved  but  whether  they  voiced  consent 
or  refusal  he  did  not  know,  for  the  words  were 
drowned  in  the  whir  of  the  propeller. 

The  black  had  learned  his  lesson  sufficiently  well 
so  that  the  motor  was  started  without  bungling  and 
the  machine  was  soon  under  way  across  the  meadow- 
land.  A  groan  escaped  the  lips  of  the  distracted 


THE  BLACK  FLIER 


Englishman  as  he  watched  the  woman  he  loved  being 
carried  to  almost  certain  death.  He  saw  the  planes 
tilt  and  the  machine  rise  from  the  ground.  It  was 
a  good  take-off  —  as  good  as  Lieutenant  Harold 
Percy  Smith-Oldwick  could  make  himself  but  he 
realized  that  it  was  only  so  by  chance.  At  any 
instant  the  machine  might  plunge  to  earth  and  even 
if,  by  some  miracle  of  chance,  the  black  could  suc 
ceed  in  rising  above  the  tree  tops  and  make  a  suc 
cessful  flight,  there  was  not  one  chance  in  one  hun 
dred  thousand  that  he  could  ever  land  again  without 
killing  his  fair  captive  and  himself. 

But  what  was  that?     His  heart  stood  still. 


CHAPTER  XIH 

USANGA'S  REWARD 

FOR  two  days  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  had  been  hunt 
ing  leisurely  to  the  north,  and  swinging  in  a 
wide  circle,  he  had  returned  to  within  a  short  dis 
tance  of  the  clearing  where  he  had  left  Bertha. 
Kircher  and  the  young  lieutenant.  He  had  spent 
the  night  in  a  large  tree  that  overhung  the  river 
only  a  short  distance  from  the  clearing,  and  now  in 
the  early  morning  hours  he  was  crouching  at  the 
water's  edge  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  capture 
Pisah,  the  fish,  thinking  that  he  would  take  it  back 
with  him  to  the  hut  where  the  girl  could  cook  it  for 
herself  and  her  companion. 

Motionless  as  a  bronze  statue  was  the  wily  ape- 
man,  for  well  he  knew  how  wary  is  Pisah,  the  fish. 
The  slightest  movement  would  frighten  him  away 
and  only  by  infinite  patience  might  he  be  captured 
at  all.  Tarzan  depended  upon  his  own  quickness 
and  the  suddenness  of  his  attack,  for  he  had  no  bait 
or  hook.  His  knowledge  of  the  ways  of  the  denizena 
of  the  water  told  him  where  to  wait  for  Pisah. 
It  might  be  a  minute  or  it  might  be  an  hour  befbre 
the  fish  would  swim  into  the  little  pool  above  which 

he  crouched,  but  sooner  or  later  one  would  come. 

228 


USANGA'S  REWARD  229 

That  the  ape-man  knew,  so  with  the  patience  of  the 
beast  of  prey  he  waited  for  his  quarry. 

At  last  there  was  a  glint  of  shiny  scales.  Pisah 
was  coming.  In  a  moment  he  would  be  within  reach 
and  then  with  the  swiftness  of  light  two  strong, 
brown  hands  would  plunge  into  the  pool  and  seize 
him,  but  just  at  the  moment  that  the  fish  was  about 
to  come  within  reach,  there  was  a  great  crashing  in 
the  underbrush  behind  the  ape-man.  Instantly  Pisah 
was  gone  and  Tarzan,  growling,  had  wheeled  about 
to  face  whatever  creature  might  be  menacing  him. 
The  moment  that  he  turned  he  saw  that  the  author 
of  the  disturbance  was  Zu-tag. 

"What  does  Zu-tag  want?"  asked  the  ape-man. 

"  Zu-tag  comes  to  the  water  to  drink,'*  replied  the 
ape. 

"Where  is  the  tribe?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"They  are  hunting  for  pisangs  and  scimatines 
farther  back  in  the  forest,"  replied  Zu-tag. 

"And  the  Tarmangani  she  and  bull  — "  asked 
Tarzan,  "are  they  safe?" 

"  They  have  gone  away,"  replied  Zu-tag.  "  Kudu 
has  come  out  of  his  lair  twice  since  they  left." 

"  Did  the  tribe  chase  them  away  ?  "  asked  Tarzan. 

"No,"  replied  the  ape.  "We  did  not  see  them 
go.  We  do  not  know  why  they  left." 

Tarzan  swung  quickly  through  the  trees  toward 
the  clearing.  The  hut  and  boma  were  as  he  had  left 
them,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  either  the  man  or 
woman.  Crossing  the  clearing,  he  entered  the  boma 
and  then  the  hut.  Both  were  empty,  and  his  trained 


230 


nostrils  told  him  that  they  had  been  gone  for  at 
least  two  days.  As  he  was  about  to  leave  the  hut 
he  saw  a  paper  pinned  upon  the  wall  with  a  sliver 
of  wood  and  taking  it  down,  he  read : 


After  what  you  told  me  about  Miss  Kircher,  and  knowing 
that  you  dislike  her,  I  feel  that  it  is  not  fair  to  her  and  to 
you  that  we  should  impose  longer  upon  you.  I  know  that  our 
presence  is  keeping  you  from  continuing  your  journey  to  the 
west  coast,  and  so  I  have  decided  that  it  is  better  for  us  to 
try  and  reach  the  white  settlements  immediately  without  impos 
ing  further  upon  you.  We  both  thank  you  for  your  kindness 
and  protection.  If  there  was  any  way  that  I  might  repay 
the  obligation  I  feel,  I  should  be  only  too  glad  to  do  so. 


It  was  signed  by  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith- 
Oldwick. 

Tarzan  shrugged  his  shoulders,  crumpled  the  note 
in  his  hand  and  tossed  it  aside.  He  felt  a  certain 
sense  of  relief  from  responsibility  and  was  glad  that 
they  had  taken  the  matter  out  of  his  hands.  They 
were  gone  and  he  would  forget,  but  somehow  he 
could  not  forget.  He  walked  out  across  the  boma 
and  into  the  clearing.  He  felt  uneasy  and  restless. 
Once  he  started  toward  the  north  in  response  to  a 
sudden  determination  to  continue  his  way  to  the 
west  coast.  He  would  follow  the  winding  river 
toward  the  north  a  few  miles  where  its  course  turned 
to  the  west  and  then  on  toward  its  source  across  a 
wooded  plateau  and  up  into  the  foothills  and  the 
mountains.  Upon  the  other  side  of  the  range  he 
would  search  for  a  stream  running  downward  toward 
the  west  coast,  and  thus  following  the  rivers  he 
would  be  sure  of  game  and  water  in  plenty. 


USANGA'S  REWARD  231 

But  he  did  not  go  far.  A  dozen  steps,  perhaps, 
and  he  came  to  a  sudden  stop.  "He  is  an  English 
man,"  he  muttered,  "and  the  other  is  a  woman. 
They  can  never  reach  the  settlements  without  my 
help.  I  could  not  kill  her  with  my  own  hands 
when  I  tried  and  if  I  let  them  go  on  alone,  1  will 
have  killed  her  just  as  surely  as  though  I  had  run 
my  knife  into  her  heart.  No,"  and  again  he  shook 
his  head.  "Tarzan  of  the  Apes  is  a  fool  and  a 
weak,  old  woman,"  and  he  turned  back  toward  the 
south. 

Manu,  the  monkey,  had  seen  the  two  Tarmangani 
pass  two  days  before.  Chattering  and  scolding,  he 
told  Tarzan  all  about  it.  They  had  gone  in  the 
lirection  of  the  village  of  the  Gomangani,  that  much 
had  Manu  seen  with  his  own  eyes,  so  the  ape-man 
swung  on  through  the  jungle  in  a  southerly  direction 
and  though  with  no  concentrated  effort  to  follow 
the  spoor  of  those  he  trailed,  he  passed  numerous 
evidences  that  they  had  gone  this  way  —  faint  sug 
gestions  of  their  scent  spoor  clung  lightly  to  leaf  or 
branch  or  bole  that  one  or  the  other  had  touched,  or 
in  the  earth  of  the  trail  their  feet  had  trod,  and 
where  the  way  wound  through  the  gloomy  depth  of 
dank  forest,  the  impress  of  their  shoes  still  showed 
occasionally  in  the  damp  mass  of  decaying  vegeta 
tion  that  floored  the  way. 

An  inexplicable  urge  spurred  Tarzan  to  increas 
ing  speed.  The  same  still,  small  voice  that  chided 
him  for  having  neglected  them  seemed  constantly 
whispering  that  they  were  in  dire  need  of  him  now. 


232  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tarzan's  conscience  was  troubling  him  which  ao^ 
counted  for  the  fact  that  he  compared  himself  to  a 
weak,  old  woman,  for  the  ape-man,  reared  in  savage 
ry  and  inured  to  hardships  and  cruelty,  disliked  to 
admit  any  of  the  gentler  traits  that  in  reality  were 
his  birthright. 

The  trail  made  a  detour  to  the  east  of  the  village 
of  the  Wamabos,  and  then  returned  to  the  wide  ele 
phant  path  nearer  to  the  river  where  it  continued 
in  a  southerly  direction  for  several  miles.  At  last 
there  came  to  the  ears  of  the  ape-man  a  peculiar 
whirring,  throbbing  sound.  For  an  instant  he 
paused,  listening  intently,  "An  aeroplane ! "  he  mut 
tered,  and  hastened  forward  at  greatly  increased 
speed. 

When  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  finally  reached  the  edge 
of  the  meadowland  where  Smith-Oldwick's  plane  had 
landed,  he  took  in  the  entire  scene  in  one  quick 
glance  and  grasped  the  situation  although  he  could 
scarce  give  credence  to  the  things  he  saw.  Bound 
and  helpless  the  English  officer  lay  upon  the  ground 
at  one  side  of  the  meadow  while  around  him  stood 
a  number  of  the  black  deserters  from  the  German 
command.  Tarzan  had  seen  these  men  before  and 
knew  who  they  were.  Coming  toward  him  down 
the  meadow  was  an  aeroplane  piloted  by  the  black 
Usanga  and  in  the  seat  behind  the  pilot  was  the 
white  girl,  Bertha  Kircher.  How  it  befell  that  the 
ignorant  savage  could  operate  the  plane,  Tarzan 
could  not  guess  nor  had  he  time  in  which  to  specu 
late  upon  the  subject.  His  knowledge  of  Usanga, 


USANCES  REWARD  233 

together  with  the  position  of  the  white  man,  told 
him  that  the  black  sergeant  was  attempting  to  carry 
off  the  white  girl.  Why  he  should  be  doing  this  when 
he  had  her  in  his  power  and  had  also  captured  and 
secured  the  only  creature  in  the  jungle  who  might 
wish  to  defend  her  in  so  far  as  the  black  could  know, 
Tarzan  could  not  guess  for  he  knew  nothing  of 
Usanga's  twenty-four  dream  wives  nor  of  the  black's 
fear  of  the  horrid  temper  of  Naratu,  his  present 
mate.  He  did  not  know,  then,  that  Usanga  had 
determined  to  fly  away  with  the  white  girl  never  to 
return,  and  to  put  so  great  a  distance  between  him 
self  and  Naratu  that  the  latter  never  could  find  him 
again;  but  it  was  this  very  thing  that  was  in  the 
black's  mind  although  not  even  his  own  warriors 
guessed  it.  He  had  told  them  that  he  would  take  the 
captive  to  a  sultan  of  the  north  and  there  obtain 
a  great  price  for  her  and  that  when  he  returned 
they  should  have  some  of  the  spoils. 

These  things  Tarzan  did  not  know.  All  he  knev 
was  what  he  saw  —  a  Negro  attempting  to  fly  away 
with  a  white  girl.  Already  the  machine  was  slowly 
leaving  the  ground.  In  a  moment  more  it  would  rise 
swiftly  out  of  reach.  At  first  Tarzan  thought  of 
fitting  an  arrow  to  his  bow  and  slaying  Usanga,  but 
as  quickly  he  abandoned  the  idea  because  he  knew 
that  the  moment  the  pilot  was  slain  the  machine, 
running  wild,  would  dash  the  girl  to  death  among 
the  trees. 

There  was  but  one  way  in  which  he  might  hope  to 
succor  her  —  a  way  which  if  it  failed  must  send  him 


234  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

to  instant  death  and  yet  he  did  not  hesitate  in  an 
attempt  to  put  it  into  execution. 

Usanga  did  not  see  him,  being  too  intent  upon  the 
unaccustomed  duties  of  a  pilot,  but  the  blacks  across 
the  meadow  saw  him  and  they  ran  forward  with  loud 
and  savage  cries  and  menacing  rifles  to  intercept 
him.  They  saw  a  giant  white  man  leap  from  the 
branches  of  a  tree  to  the  turf  and  race  rapidly 
toward  the  plane.  They  saw  him  take  a  long  grass 
rope  from  about  his  shoulders  as  he  ran.  They  saw 
the  noose  swinging  in  an  undulating  circle  above  his 
head.  They  saw  the  white  girl  in  the  machine  glance 
down  and  discover  him. 

Twenty  feet  above  the  running  ape-man  soared 
the  huge  plane.  The  open  noose  shot  up  to  meet  it, 
and  the  girl,  half  guessing  the  ape-man's  intentions, 
reached  out  and  caught  the  noose  and,  bracing  her 
self,  clung  tightly  to  it  with  both  hands.  Simul 
taneously  Tarzan  was  dragged  from  his  feet  and 
the  plane  lurched  sideways  in  response  to  the  new 
strain.  Usanga  clutched  wildly  at  the  control  and 
the  machine  shot  upward  at  a  steep  angle.  Dangling 
at  the  end  of  the  rope  the  ape-man  swung  pendulum- 
like  in  space.  The  Englishman,  lying  bound  upon 
the  ground,  had  been  a  witness  of  all  these  happen 
ings.  His  heart  stood  still  as  he  saw  Tarzan's 
body  hurtling  through  the  air  toward  the  tree  tops 
among  which  it  seemed  he  must  inevitably  crash ; 
but  the  plane  was  rising  rapidly  so  that  the  beast- 
man  cleared  the  top-most  branches.  Then  slowly, 
hand  over  hand,  he  climbed  toward  the  fuselage. 


USANGA'S  REWARD  235 

The  girl,  clinging  desperately  to  the  noose,  strained 
every  muscle  to  hold  the  great  weight  dangling  at 
the  lower  end  of  the  rope. 

Usanga,  all  unconscious  of  what  was  going  on 
behind  him,  drove  the  plane  higher  and  higher  into 
the  air. 

Tarzan  glanced  downward.  Below  him  the  tree 
tops  and  the  river  passed  rapidly  to  the  rear  and 
only  a  slender  grass  rope  and  the  muscles  of  a  frail 
girl  stood  between  him  and  the  death  yawning  there 
thousands  of  feet  below. 

It  seemed  to  Bertha  Kircher  that  the  fingers  of  her 
hands  were  dead.  The  numbness  was  running  up  her 
arms  to  her  elbows.  How  much  longer  she  could 
cling  to  the  straining  strands  she  could  not  guess. 
It  seemed  to  her  that  those  lifeless  fingers  must 
relax  at  any  instant  and  then,  when  she  had  about 
given  up  hope,  she  saw  a  strong  brown  hand  reach 
up  and  grasp  the  side  of  the  fuselage.  Instantly 
the  weight  upon  the  rope  was  removed  and  a  moment 
later  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  raised  his  body  above  the 
side  and  threw  a  leg  over  the  edge.  He  glanced 
forward  at  Usanga  and  then,  placing  his  mouth  close 
to  the  girl's  ear  he  cried :  "  Have  you  ever  piloted  a 
plane?"  The  girl  nodded  a  quick  affirmative. 

"Have  you  the  courage  to  climb  up  there  beside 
the  black  and  seize  the  control  while  I  take  care 
of  him?" 

The  girl  looked  toward  Usanga  and  shuddered. 
"Yes,"  she  replied,  "but  my  feet  are  bound." 

Tarzan  drew  his  hunting  knife  from  its  sheath 


£36  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  reaching  down,  severed  the  thongs  that  bound 
her  ankles.  Then  the  girl  unsnapped  the  strap  that 
held  her  to  her  seat.  With  one  hand  Tarzan  grasped 
the  girl's  arm  and  steadied  her  as  the  two  crawled 
slowly  across  the  few  feet  which  intervened  between 
the  two  seats.  A  single  slight  tip  of  the  plane  would 
have  cast  them  both  into  eternity.  Tarzan  realized 
that  only  through  a  miracle  of  chance  could  they 
reach  Usanga  and  effect  the  change  in  pilots  and  yet 
he  knew  that  that  chance  must  be  taken,  for  in  the 
brief  moments  since  he  had  first  seen  the  plane,  he 
had  realized  that  the  black  was  almost  without  ex 
perience  as  a  pilot  and  that  death  surely  awaited 
them  in  any  event  should  the  black  sergeant  remain 
at  the  control. 

The  first  intimation  Usanga  had  that  all  was  not 
well  with  him  was  when  the  girl  slipped  suddenly 
to  his  side  and  grasped  the  control  and  at  the  same 
instant  steel-like  fingers  seized  his  throat.  A  brown 
hand  shot  down  with  a  keen  blade  and  severed  the 
strap  about  his  waist  and  giant  muscles  lifted  him 
bodily  from  his  seat.  Usanga  clawed  the  air  and 
shrieked  but  he  was  helpless  as  a  babe.  Far  below 
the  watchers  in  the  meadow  could  see  the  aeroplane 
careening  in  the  sky,  for  with  the  change  of  control 
it  had  taken  a  sudden  dive.  They  saw  it  right  itself 
and  turning  in  a  short  circle  return  in  their  direc 
tion,  but  it  was  so  far  above  them  and  the  light  of 
the  sun  so  strong  that  they  could  see  nothing  of  what 
was  going  on  within  the  fuselage;  but  presently 
Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  gave  a  gasp  of  dismay 


USANGA'S  REWARD  237 

as  he  saw  a  human  body  plunge  downward  from  the 
plane.  Turning  and  twisting  in  mid-air  it  fell  with 
ever-increasing  velocity  and  the  Englishman  held 
his  breath  as  the  thing  hurtled  toward  them. 

With  a  muffled  thud  it  flattened  upon  the  turf 
near  the  center  of  the  meadow,  and  when  at  last  the 
Englishman  could  gain  the  courage  to  again  turn 
fcis  eyes  upon  it,  he  breathed  a  fervent  prayer  of 
thanks,  for  the  shapeless  mass  that  lay  upon  the 
blood-stained  turf  was  covered  with  an  ebon  hide. 
Usanga  had  reaped  his  reward. 

Again  and  again  the  plane  circled  above  the 
meadow.  The  blacks,  at  first  dismayed  at  the  death 
of  their  leader,  were  now  worked  to  a  frenzy  of  rage 
and  a  determination  to  be  avenged.  The  girl  and  the 
ape-man  saw  them  gather  in  a  knot  about  the  body 
of  their  fallen  chief.  They  saw  as  they  circled  above 
the  meadow  the  black  fists  shaken  at  them,  and  the 
rifles  brandishing  a  menace  toward  them.  Tarzan 
still  clung  to  the  fuselage  directly  behind  the  pilot's 
seat.  His  face  was  close  beside  Bertha  Kircher's 
and  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  above  the  noise  of  pro 
peller,  engine  and  exhaust,  he  screamed  a  few  words 
of  instruction  into  her  ear. 

As  the  girl  grasped  the  significance  of  his  words 
she  paled,  but  her  lips  set  in  a  hard  line  and  her  eyes 
shone  with  a  sudden  fire  of  determination  as  she 
dropped  the  plane  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ground 
and  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  meadow  from  the 
blacks  and  then  at  full  speed  bore  down  upon  the 
savages.  So  quickly  the  plane  came  that  Usanga's 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


men  had  no  time  to  escape  it  after  they  realized 
its  menace.  It  touched  the  ground  just  as  it  struck 
among  them  and  mowed  through  them,  a  veritable 
juggernaut  of  destruction.  When  it  came  to  rest 
at  the  edge  of  the  forest  the  ape-man  leaped  quickly 
to  the  ground  and  ran  toward  the  young  lieutenant, 
and  as  he  went  he  glanced  at  the  spot  where  the  war 
riors  had  stood,  ready  to  defend  himself  if  necessary, 
but  there  was  none  there  to  oppose  him.  Dead  and 
dying  they  lay  strewn  for  fifty  feet  along  the  turf. 

By  the  time  Tarzan  had  freed  the  Englishman  the 
girl  joined  them.  She  tried  to  voice  her  thanks  to 
the  ape-man  but  he  silenced  her  with  a  gesture. 

"  You  saved  yourself,"  he  insisted,  "  for  had  you 
been  unable  to  pilot  the  plane,  I  could  not  have 
helped  you  and  now,"  he  said,  "you  two  have  the 
means  of  returning  to  the  settlements.  The  day  is 
still  young.  You  can  easily  cover  the  distance  in  a 
few  hours  if  you  have  sufficient  petrol."  He  looked 
inquiringly  toward  the  aviator. 

Smith-Oldwick  nodded  his  head  affirmatively.  "I 
have  plenty,"  he  replied. 

"Then  go  at  once,"  said  the  ape-man.  "Neither 
of  you  belongs  in  the  jungle."  A  slight  smile  touched 
his  lips  as  he  spoke. 

The  girl  and  the  Englishman  smiled  too.  "This 
jungle  is  no  place  for  us  at  least,"  said  Smith-Old 
wick,  "and  it  is  no  place  for  any  other  white  man. 
Why  don't  you  come  back  to  civilization  with  us?" 

Tarzan  shook  his  head.  "I  prefer  the  jungle," 
he  said. 


USANGA'S  REWARD  239 

The  aviator  dug  his  toe  into  the  ground  and  still 
looking  down  blurted  something  which  he  evidently 
hated  to  say.  "  If  it  is  a  matter  of  living,  old  top," 
he  said,  "er —  money,  er  —  you  know " 

Tarzan  laughed.  "  No  "  he  said.  "  I  know  what 
you  are  trying  to  say.  It  is  not  that.  I  was  born 
in  the  jungle.  I  have  lived  all  my  life  in  the  jungle, 
and  I  shall  die  in  the  jungle.  I  do  not  wish  to  live 
or  die  elsewhere." 

The  others  shook  their  heads.  They  could  not 
understand  him. 

"  Go,"  said  the  ape-man.  "  The  quicker  you  go, 
the  quicker  you  will  reach  safety." 

They  walked  to  the  plane  together.  Smith-Old- 
wick  pressed  the  ape-man's  hand  and  clambered  into 
the  pilot's  seat.  "Good-bye,"  said  the  girl  as  she 
extended  her  hand  to  Tarzan.  "Before  I  go  won't 
you  tell  me  that  you  don't  hate  me  any  more  ? " 
Tarzan's  face  clouded.  Without  a  word  he  picked 
her  up  and  lifted  her  to  her  place  behind  the  English 
man.  An  expression  of  pain  crossed  Bertha 
Kircher's  face.  The  motor  started  and  a  moment 
later  the  two  were  being  borne  rapidly  toward  the 
east. 

In  the  center  of  the  meadow  stood  the  ape-man 
watching  them.  "It  is  too  bad  that  she  is  a  Ger 
man  and  a  spy,"  he  said,  "for  she  is  very  hard  to 
hate." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BLACK    LION 

NUMA,  the  lion,  was  hungry.  He  had  come 
out  of  the  desert  country  to  the  east  into 
a  land  of  plenty  but  though  he  was  young  and 
strong,  the  wary  grass-eaters  had  managed  to  elude 
his  mighty  talons  each  time  he  had  thought  to  make 
a  kill. 

Numa,  the  lion,  was  hungry  and  very  savage. 
For  two  days  he  had  not  eaten  and  now  he  hunted 
in  the  ugliest  of  humors.  No  more  did  Numa  roar 
forth  a  rumbling  challenge  to  the  world  but  rather 
he  moved  silent  and  grim,  stepping  softly  that  no 
cracking  twig  might  betray  his  presence  to  the  keen- 
eared  quarry  he  sought. 

Fresh  was  the  spoor  of  Bara,  the  deer,  that  Numa 
picked  up  in  the  well-beaten  game  trail  he  was  fol 
lowing.  No  hour  had  passed  since  Bara  came  this 
wav;  the  time  could  be  measured  in  minutes  and  so 
the  great  lion  redoubled  the  cautiousness  of  his 
advance  as  he  crept  stealthily  in  pursuit  of  his 
quarry. 

A  light  wind  was  moving  through  the  jungle 
aisles,  and  it  wafted  down  now  to  the  nostrils  of 
the  eager  carnivore  the  strong  scent  spoor  of  the 

240 


The  ape-man  swung  pendulum-like  in  space. 

Page  234 


THE  BLACK  LION  241 

deer,  exciting  his  already  avid  appetite  to  a  point 
where  it  became  a  gnawing  pain.  Yet  Nuraa  did  not 
permit  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  his  desires  into 
any  premature  charge  such  as  had  recently  lost  him 
the  juicy  meat  of  Pacco,  the  zebra.  Increasing  his 
gait  but  slightly  he  followed  the  tortuous  windings 
of  the  trail  until  suddenly  just  before  him,  where 
the  trail  wound  about  the  bole  of  a  huge  tree,  he 
saw  a  young  buck  moving  slowly  ahead  of  him. 

Numa  judged  the  distance  with  his  keen  eyes, 
glowing  now  like  two  terrible  spots  of  yellow  fire 
in  his  wrinkled,  snarling  face.  He  could  do  it  — 
this  time  he  was  sure.  One  terrific  roar  that  would 
paralyze  the  poor  creature  ahead  of  him  into 
momentary  inaction,  and  a  simultaneous  charge  of 
lightning-like  rapidity  and  Numa,  the  lion,  would 
feed.  The  sinuous  tail,  undulating  slowly  at  its 
tufted  extremity,  whipped  suddenly  erect.  It  was 
the  signal  for  the  charge  and  the  vocal  organs  were 
shaped  for  the  thunderous  roar  when,  as  lightning 
out  of  a  clear  sky,  Sheeta,  the  panther,  leaped  sud 
denly  into  the  trail  between  Numa  and  the  deer. 

A  blundering  charge  made  Sheeta,  for  with  the 
first  crash  of  his  spotted  body  through  the  foliage 
verging  the  trail,  Bara  gave  a  single  startled  back 
ward  glance  and  was  gone. 

The  roar  that  was  intended  to  paralyze  the  deer 
broke  horribly  from  the  deep  throat  of  the  great 
cat  —  an  angry  roar  of  rage  against  the  meddling 
Sheeta  who  had  robbed  him  of  his  kill,  and  the 
charge  that  was  intended  for  Bara  was  launched 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


against  the  panther  ;  but  here  too  Numa  was  doomed 
to  disappointment,  for  with  the  first  notes  of  his 
fearsome  roar  Sheeta,  considering  well  the  better 
part  of  valor,  leaped  into  a  near-by  tree. 

A  half-hour  later  it  was  a  thoroughly  furious 
Numa  who  came  unexpectedly  upon  the  scent  of  man. 
Heretofore  the  lord  of  the  jungle  had  disdained 
the  unpalatable  flesh  of  the  despised  man-thing. 
Such  meat  was  only  for  the  old,  the  toothless,  and 
decrepit  who  no  longer  could  make  their  kills  among 
the  fleet-footed  grass-eaters.  Bara,  the  deer,  Horta, 
the  boar,  and,  best  and  wariest,  Pacco,  the  zebra, 
were  for  the  young,  the  strong,  and  the  agile,  but 
Numa  was  hungry  —  hungrier  than  he  ever  had 
been  in  the  five  short  years  of  his  life. 

What  if  he  was  a  young,  powerful,  cunning,  and 
ferocious  beast?  In  the  face  of  hunger,  the  great 
leveler,  he  was  as  the  old,  the  toothless,  and  the 
decrepit.  His  belly  cried  aloud  in  anguish  and  his 
jowls  slavered  for  flesh.  Zebra  or  deer  or  man,  what 
mattered  it  so  that  it  was  warm  flesh,  red  with  the 
hot  juices  of  life?  Even  Dango,  the  hyena,  eater  of 
offal,  would,  at  that  moment,  have  seemed  a  tidbit 
to  Numa. 

The  great  lion  knew  the  habits  and  frailties  of 
man  though  he  never  before  had  hunted  man  for 
food.  He  knew  the  despised  Gomangani  as  the  slow 
est,  the  most  stupid,  and  defenseless  of  creatures. 
No  woodcraft,  no  cunning,  no  stealth  was  necessary 
in  the  hunting  of  man,  nor  had  Numa  any  stomach 
for  either  delay  or  silence. 


THE  BLACK  LION  243 

His  rage  had  become  an  almost  equally  consuming 
passion  with  his  hunger  so  that  now,  as  his  delicate 
nostrils  apprised  him  of  the  recent  passage  of  man, 
he  lowered  his  head  and  rumbled  forth  a  thunderous 
roar  and  at  a  swift  walk,  careless  of  the  noise  he 
made,  set  forth  upon  the  trail  of  his  intended  quarry. 

Majestic  and  terrible,  regally  careless  of  his  sur 
roundings,  the  king  of  beasts  strode  down  the  beaten 
trail.  The  natural  caution  that  is  inherent  to  all 
creatures  of  the  wild  had  deserted  him.  What  had 
he,  lord  of  the  jungle,  to  fear  and,  with  only  man  to 
hunt,  what  need  of  caution?  And  so  he  did  not  see 
or  scent  what  a  more  wary  Numa  might  readily 
have  discovered  until,  with  the  cracking  of  twigs  and 
a  tumbling  of  earth,  he  was  precipitated  into  a  cun 
ningly  devised  pit  that  the  wily  Wamabos  had 
excavated  for  just  this  purpose  in  the  center  of  the 
game  trail. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  stood  in  the  center  of  the 
clearing  watching  the  plane  shrinking  to  diminutive 
toylike  proportions  in  the  eastern  sky.  He  had 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  as  he  saw  it  rise  safely 
with  the  British  flier  and  Fraulein  Bertha  Kircher. 
For  weeks  he  had  felt  the  hampering  responsibility 
of  their  welfare  in  this  savage  wilderness  where  their 
utter  helplessness  would  have  rendered  them  easy 
prey  for  the  savage  carnivora  or  the  cruel  Wamabos. 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes  loved  unfettered  freedom,  and 
now  that  these  two  were  safely  off  his  hands,  he  felt 
that  he  could  continue  upon  his  journey  toward  the 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


west  coast  and  the  long-untenanted  cabin  of  his 
dead  father. 

And  yet,  as  he  stood  there  watching  the  tiny  speck 
in  the  east,  another  sigh  heaved  his  broad  chest,  nor 
was  it  a  sigh  of  relief  but  rather  a  sensation  which 
Tarzan  had  never  expected  to  feel  again  and  which 
he  now  disliked  to  admit  even  to  himself.  It  could 
not  be  possible  that  he,  the  jungle  bred,  who  had 
renounced  forever  the  society  of  man  to  return  to  his 
beloved  beasts  of  the  wilds,  could  be  feeling  anything 
akin  to  regret  at  the  departure  of  these  two,  or 
any  slightest  loneliness  now  that  they  were  gone. 
Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  Tarzan  had 
liked,  but  the  woman  whom  he  had  known  as  a  Ger 
man  spy  he  had  hated,  though  he  never  had  found 
it  in  his  heart  to  slay  her  as  he  had  sworn  to  slay  all 
Huns.  He  had  attributed  this  weakness  to  the  fact 
that  she  was  a  woman,  although  he  had  been  rather 
troubled  by  the  apparent  inconsistency  of  his  hatred 
for  her  and  his  repeated  protection  of  her  when 
danger  threatened. 

With  an  irritable  toss  of  his  head  he  wheeled 
suddenly  toward  the  west  as  though  by  turning  his 
back  upon  the  fast  disappearing  plane  he  might 
expunge  thoughts  of  its  passengers  from  his  mem 
ory.  At  the  edge  of  the  clearing  he  paused  ;  a  giant 
tree  loomed  directly  ahead  of  him  and,  as  though 
actuated  by  sudden  and  irresistible  impulse,  he 
leaped  into  the  branches  and  swung  himself  with 
apelike  agility  to  the  topmost  limbs  that  would  sus 
tain  his  weight.  There,  balancing  lightly  upon  a 


THE  BLACK  LION  245 

swaying  bough,  he  sought  in  the  direction  of  the 
eastern  horizon  for  the  tiny  speck  that  would  be 
the  British  plane  bearing  away  from  him  the  last 
of  his  own  race  and  kind  that  he  expected  ever  again 
to  see. 

At  last  his  keen  eyes  picked  up  the  ship  flying 
at  a  considerable  altitude  far  in  the  east.  For  a 
few  seconds  he  watched  it  speeding  evenly  eastward, 
when,  to  his  horror,  he  saw  the  speck  dive  suddenly 
downward.  The  fall  seemed  interminable  to  the 
watcher  and  he  realized  how  great  must  have  been 
the  altitude  of  the  plane  before  the  drop  commenced. 
Just  before  it  disappeared  from  sight  its  downward 
momentum  appeared  to  abate  suddenly,  but  it  was 
still  moving  rapidly  at  a  steep  angle  when  it  finally 
disappeared  from  view  behind  the  far  hills. 

For  half  a  minute  the  ape-man  stood  noting  dis 
tant  landmarks  that  he  judged  might  be  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  the  fallen  plane,  for  no  sooner  had  he  realized 
that  these  people  were  again  in  trouble  than  his 
inherent  sense  of  duty  to  his  own  kind  impelled  him 
once  more  to  forego  his  plans  and  seek  to  aid  them. 

The  ape-man  feared  from  what  he  judged  of  the 
location  of  the  machine  that  it  had  fallen  among 
the  almost  impassable  gorges  of  the  arid  country 
just  beyond  the  fertile  basin  that  was  bounded  by 
the  hills  to  the  east  of  him.  He  had  crossed  that 
parched  and  desolate  country  of  the  dead  himself 
and  he  knew  from  his  own  experience  and  the  narrow 
escape  he  had  had  from  succumbing  to  its  relentless 
cruelty  no  lesser  man  could  hope  to  win  his  way  to 


246  TARZANiTHE  UNTAMED 

4 

safety  from  any  considerable  distance  within  its 
borders.  Vividly  he  recalled  the  bleached  bones  of 
the  long-dead  warrior  in  the  bottom  of  the  pre 
cipitous  gorge  that  had  all  but  proved  a  trap  for  him 
as  well.  He  saw  the  helmet  of  hammered  brass  and 
the  corroded  breastplate  of  steel  and  the  long 
straight  sword  in  its  scabbard  and  the  ancient  har 
quebus —  mute  testimonials  to  the  mighty  physique 
and  the  warlike  spirit  of  him  who  had  somehow  won, 
thus  illy  caparisoned  and  pitifully  armed,  to  the  cen 
ter  of  savage,  ancient  Africa ;  and  he  saw  the  slender 
English  youth  and  the  slight  figure  of  the  girl  cast 
into  the  same  fateful  trap  from  which  this  giant  of 
old  had  been  unable  to  escape  —  cast  there  wounded 
and  broken  perhaps,  if  not  killed. 

His  judgment  told  him  that  the  latter  possibility 
was  probably  the  fact  and  yet  there  was  a  chance 
that  they  might  have  landed  without  fatal  injuries, 
and  so  upon  this  slim  chance  he  started  out  upon 
what  he  knew  would  be  an  arduous  journey,  fraught 
with  many  hardships  and  unspeakable  peril,  that 
he  might  attempt  to  save  them  if  they  still  lived. 

He  had  covered  a  mile  perhaps  when  his  quick  ears 
caught  the  sound  of  rapid  movement  along  the  game 
trail  ahead  of  him.  The  sound,  increasing  in  vol 
ume,  proclaimed  the  fact  that  whatever  caused  it 
was  moving  in  his  direction  and  moving  rapidly. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  his  trained  senses  convinced 
him  that  the  footfalls  were  those  of  Bara,  the  deer, 
in  rapid  flight.  Inextricably  confused  in  Tarzan's 
character  were  the  attributes  of  man  and  of  beasts. 


THE  BLACK  LION  247 

Long  experience  had  taught  him  that  he  fights  best 
or  travels  fastest  who  is  best  nourished,  and  so,  with 
few  exceptions,  Tarzan  could  delay  his  most  urgent 
business  to  take  advantage  of  an  opportunity  to  kill 
and  feed.  This  perhaps  was  the  predominant  beast 
trait  in  him.  The  transformation  from  an  English 
gentleman,  impelled  by  the  most  humanitarian  mo 
tives,  to  that  of  a  wild  beast  crouching  in  the  con 
cealment  of  a  dense  bush  ready  to  spring  upon  its 
approaching  prey,  was  instantaneous. 

And  so,  when  Bara  came,  escaping  the  clutches  of 
Numa  and  Sheeta,  his  terror  and  his  haste  precluded 
the  possibility  of  his  sensing  that  other  equally  for 
midable  foe  lying  in  ambush  for  him.  Abreast  of 
the  ape-man  came  the  deer;  a  light-brown  body  shot 
from  the  concealing  verdure  of  the  bush,  strong  arms 
encircled  the  sleek  neck  of  the  young  buck  and  pow 
erful  teeth  fastened  themselves  in  the  soft  flesh. 
Together  the  two  rolled  over  in  the  trail  and  a 
moment  later  the  ape-man  rose,  and,  with  one  foot 
upon  the  carcass  of  his  kill,  raised  his  voice  in  the 
victory  cry  of  the  bull  ape. 

Like  an  answering  challenge  came  suddenly  to  the 
ears  of  the  ape-man  the  thunderous  roar  of  a  lion, 
a  hideous  angry  roar  in  which  Tarzan  thought  that 
he  discerned  a  note  of  surprise  and  terror.  In  the 
breast  of  the  wild  things  of  the  jungle,  as  in  the 
breasts  of  their  more  enlightened  brothers  and  sis 
ters  of  the  human  race,  the  characteristic  of  curios 
ity  is  well  developed.  Nor  was  Tarzan  far  from 
innocent  of  it.  The  peculiar  note  in  the  roar  of  his 


248  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

hereditary  enemy  aroused  a  desire  to  investigate, 
and  so,  throwing  the  carcass  of  Bara,  the  deer, 
across  his  shoulder,  the  ape-man  took  to  the  lower 
terraces  of  the  forest  and  moved  quickly  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  sound  had  come,  which 
was  in  line  with  the  trail  he  had  set  out  upon. 

As  the  distance  lessened,  the  sounds  increased  in 
volume,  which  indicated  that  he  was  approaching  a 
very  angry  lion  and  presently,  where  a  jungle  giant 
overspread  the  broad  game  trail  that  countless 
thousands  of  hoofed  and  padded  feet  had  worn  and 
trampled  into  a  deep  furrow  during  perhaps  count 
less  ages,  he  saw  beneath  him  the  lion  pit  of  the 
Wamabos  and  in  it,  leaping  futilely  for  freedom  such 
a  lion  as  even  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  never  before  had 
beheld.  A  mighty  beast  it  was  that  glared  up  at  the 
ape-man — large,  powerful  and  young,  with  a  huge 
black  mane  and  a  coat  so  much  darker  than  any  Tar 
zan  ever  had  seen  that  in  the  depths  of  the  pit  it 
looked  almost  black  —  a  black  lion ! 

Tarzan  who  had  been  upon  the  point  of  taunting 
and  reviling  his  captive  foe  was  suddenly  turned  to 
open  admiration  for  the  beauty  of  the  splendid  beast. 
What  a  creature !  How  by  comparison  the  ordinary 
forest  lion  was  dwarfed  into  insignificance!  Here 
indeed  was  one  worthy  to  be  called  king  of  beasts. 
With  his  first  sight  of  the  great  cat  the  ape-man 
knew  that  he  had  heard  no  note  of  terror  in  that 
initial  roar;  surprise  doubtless,  but  the  vocal  chords 
of  that  mighty  throat  never  had  reacted  to  fear. 

With  growing  admiration  came  a  feeling  of  quick 


THE  BLACK  LION 


pity  for  the  hapless  situation  of  the  great  brute 
rendered  futile  and  helpless  by  the  wiles  of  the 
Gomangani.  Enemy  though  the  beast  was,  he  was 
less  an  enemy  to  the  ape-man  than  those  blacks 
who  had  trapped  him,  for  though  Tarzan  of  the 
Apes  claimed  many  fast  and  loyal  friends  among 
certain  tribes  of  African  natives,  there  were  others 
of  degraded  character  and  bestial  habits  that  he 
looked  upon  with  utter  loathing,  and  of  such  were 
the  human  flesh-eaters  of  Numabo  the  chief.  For  a 
moment  Numa,  the  lion,  glared  ferociously  at  the 
naked  man-thing  upon  the  tree  limb  above  him. 
Steadily  those  yellow-green  eyes  bored  into  the  clear 
eyes  of  the  ape-man,  and  then  the  sensitive  nostrils 
caught  the  scent  of  the  fresh  blood  of  Bara  and  the 
eyes  moved  to  the  carcass  lying  across  the  brown 
shoulder,  and  there  came  from  the  cavernous  depths 
of  the  savage  throat  a  low  whine. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  smiled.  As  unmistakably  as 
though  a  human  voice  had  spoken,  the  lion  had  said 
to  him  "I  am  hungry,  even  more  than  hungry. 
I  am  starving,"  and  the  ape-man  looked  down  upon 
the  lion  beneath  him  and  smiled,  a  slow  quizzical 
smile,  and  then  he  shifted  the  carcass  from  his 
shoulder  to  the  branch  before  him  and,  drawing  the 
long  blade  that  had  been  his  father's,  deftly  cut  off 
a  hind  quarter  and,  wiping  the  bloody  blade  upon 
Bara's  smooth  coat,  he  returned  it  to  its  scabbard. 
Numa,  with  watering  jaws,  looked  up  at  the  tempt 
ing  meat  and  whined  again  and  the  ape-man  smiled 
down  upon  him  his  slow  smile  and,  raising  the  hind 


250  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

quarter  in  his  strong  brown  hands  buried  his  teeth  in 
the  tender,  juicy  flesh. 

For  the  third  time  Numa,  the  lion,  uttered  that 
low  pleading  whine  and  then,  with  a  rueful  and  dis 
gusted  shake  of  his  head,  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  raised 
the  balance  of  the  carcass  of  Bara,  the  deer,  and 
hurled  it  to  the  famished  beast  below. 

"  Old  woman,"  muttered  the  ape-man.  "  Tarzan 
has  become  a  weak  old  woman.  Presently  he  would 
shed  tears  because  he  has  killed  Bara,  the  deer.  He 
cannot  see  Numa,  his  enemy,  go  hungry  because 
Tarzan's  heart  is  turning  to  water  by  contact  with 
the  soft,  weak  creatures  of  civilization ; "  but  yet  he 
smiled.  Nor  was  he  sorry  that  he  had  given  way 
to  the  dictates  of  a  kindly  impulse. 

As  Tarzan  tore  the  flesh  from  that  portion  of 
the  kill  he  had  retained  for  himself  his  eyes  were 
taking  in  each  detail  of  the  scene  below.  He  saw 
the  avidity  with  which  Numa  devoured  the  carcass; 
he  noted  with  growing  admiration  the  finer  points 
of  the  beast,  and  also  the  cunning  construction  of 
the  trap.  The  ordinary  lion  pit  with  which  Tarzan 
was  familiar  had  stakes  imbedded  in  the  bottom, 
upon  whose  sharpened  points  the  hapless  lion  would 
be  impaled,  but  this  pit  was  not  so  made.  Here 
the  short  stakes  were  set  at  intervals  of  about  a  foot 
around  the  walls  near  the  top,  their  sharpened  points 
inclining  downward  so  that  the  lion  had  fallen  un 
hurt  into  the  trap  but  could  not  leap  out  because 
each  time  he  essayed  it  his  head  came  in  contact 
with  the  sharp  end  of  a  stake  above  him. 


THE  BLACK  LION  251 

Evidently,  then,  the  purpose  of  the  Wamabos  was 
to  capture  a  lion  alive.  As  this  tribe  had  no  contact 
whatsoever  with  white  men  in  so  far  as  Tarzan  knew, 
their  motive  was  doubtless  due  to  a  desire  to  tor 
ture  the  beast  to  death  that  they  might  enjoy  to 
the  utmost  his  d}Ting  agonies. 

Having  fed  the  lion  it  presently  occurred  to  Tar 
zan  that  his  act  would  be  futile  were  he  to  leave  the 
beast  to  the  mercies  of  the  blacks,  and  then  too  it  oc 
curred  to  him  that  he  could  derive  more  pleasure 
through  causing  the  blacks  discomfiture  than  by 
leaving  Numa  to  his  fate.  But  how  was  he  to  re' 
lease  him?  By  removing  two  stakes  there  would  be 
left  plenty  of  room  for  the  lion  to  leap  from  the 
pit,  which  was  not  of  any  great  depth.  However, 
what  assurance  had  Tarzan  that  Numa  would  not 
leap  out  instantly  the  way  to  freedom  was  open, 
and  before  the  ape-man  could  gain  the  safety  of  the 
trees?  Regardless  of  the  fact  that  Tarzan  felt 
no  such  fear  of  the  lion  as  you  and  I  might  ex 
perience  under  like  circumstances,  he  yet  was  imbued 
with  the  sense  of  caution  that  is  necessary  to  all 
creatures  of  the  wild  if  they  are  to  survive.  Should 
necessity  require,  Tarzan  could  face  Numa  in  battle, 
although  he  was  not  so  egotistical  as  to  think  that 
he  could  best  a  full-grown  lion  in  mortal  combat 
other  than  through  accident  or  the  utilization  of 
the  cunning  of  his  superior  man-mind.  To  lay  him 
self  liable  to  death  futilely,  he  would  have  con 
sidered  as  reprehensible  as  to  have  shunned  danger 
•n  time  of  necessity;  but  when  Tarzan  elected  to  do 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


a  thing  he  usually  found  the  means  to  accomplish  it. 

He  had  now  fully  determined  to  liberate  Numa, 
and  having  so  determined,  he  would  accomplish  it 
aven  though  it  entailed  considerable  personal  risk. 
He  knew  that  the  lion  would  be  occupied  with  his 
feeding  for  some  time,  but  he  also  knew  that  while 
feeding  he  would  be  doubly  resentful  of  any  fancied 
interference.  Therefore  Tarzan  must  work  with 
caution. 

Coming  to  the  ground  at  the  side  of  the  pit,  he 
examined  the  stakes  and  as  he  did  so  was  rather 
surprised  to  note  that  Numa  gave  no  evidence  of 
anger  at  his  approach.  Once  he  turned  a  searching 
gaze  upon  the  ape-man  for  a  moment  and  then  re 
turned  to  the  flesh  of  Bara.  Tarzan  felt  of  the 
stakes  and  tested  them  with  his  weight.  He  pulled 
upon  them  with  the  muscles  of  his  strong  arms, 
presently  discovering  that  by  working  them  back 
and  forth  he  could  loosen  them:  and  then  a  new 
plan  was  suggested  to  him  so  that  he  fell  to  work 
excavating  with  his  knife  at  a  point  above  where  one 
of  the  stakes  was  imbedded.  The  loam  was  soft  and 
easily  removed,  and  it  was  not  long  until  Tarzan  had 
exposed  that  part  of  one  of  the  stakes  which  was 
imbedded  in  the  wall  of  the  pit  to  almost  its  entire 
length,  leaving  only  enough  imbedded  to  prevent  the 
stake  from  falling  into  the  excavation.  Then  he 
turned  his  attention  to  an  adjoining  stake  and  soon 
had  it  similarly  exposed,  after  which  he  threw  the 
noose  of  his  grass  rope  over  the  two  and  swung 
quickly  to  the  branch  of  the  tree  above.  Here  he 


THE  BLACK  LION  258 

gathered  in  the  slack  of  the  rope  and,  bracing  him 
self  against  the  bole  of  the  tree,  pulled  steadily 
upward.  Slowly  the  stakes  rose  from  the  trench 
in  which  they  were  imbedded  and  with  them  rose 
Numa's  suspicion  and  growling. 

Was  this  some  new  encroachment  upon  his  rights 
and  his  liberties  ?  He  was  puzzled  and,  like  all  lions, 
being  short  of  temper,  he  was  irritated.  He  had 
not  minded  it  when  the  Tarmangani  squatted  upon 
the  verge  of  the  pit  and  looked  down  upon  him,  for 
had  not  this  Tarmangani  fed  him?  But  now  some 
thing  else  was  afoot  and  the  suspicion  of  the  wild 
beast  was  aroused.  As  he  watched,  however,  Numa 
saw  the  stakes  rise  slowly  to  an  erect  position,  tumble 
against  each  other  and  then  fall  backwards  out  of 
his  sight  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground  above.  In 
stantly  the  lion  grasped  the  possibilities  of  the  situa 
tion,  and,  too,  perhaps  he  sensed  the  fact  that  the 
man-thing  had  deliberately  opened  a  way  for  his 
escape.  Seizing  the  remains  of  Bara  in  his  great 
jaws,  Numa,  the  lion,  leaped  agilely  from  the  pit 
of  the  Wamabos  and  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  melted 
into  the  jungles  to  the  east. 

On  the  surface  of  the  ground  or  through  the  sway 
ing  branches  of  the  trees  the  spoor  of  man  or  beast 
was  an  open  book  to  the  ape-man,  but  even  his 
acute  senses  were  baffled  by  the  spoorless  trail  of 
the  airship.  Of  what  good  were  eyes,  or  ears,  or 
the  sense  of  smell  in  following  a  thing  whose  path 
had  lain  through  the  shifting  air  thousands  of  feet 
above  the  tree  tops?  Only  upon  his  sense  of  di- 


254  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

rection  could  Tarzan  depend  in  his  search  for  the 
fallen  plane.  He  could  not  even  judge  accurately 
as  to  the  distance  it  might  lie  from  him,  and  he 
knew  that  from  the  moment  that  it  disappeared  be 
yond  the  hills  it  might  have  traveled  a  considerable 
distance  at  right  angles  to  its  original  course  before 
it  crashed  to  earth.  If  its  occupants  were  killed 
or  badly  injured  the  ape-man  might  search  futilely 
in  their  immediate  vicinity  for  some  time  before,  find 
ing  them. 

There  was  but  one  thing  to  do  and  that  was  to 
travel  to  a  point  as  close  as  possible  to  where  he 
judged  the  plane  had  landed,  and  then  to  follow 
in  ever-widening  circles  until  he  picked  up  their  scent 
spoor.  And  this  he  did. 

Before  he  left  the  valley  of  plenty  he  made  several 
kills  and  carried  the  choicest  cuts  of  meat  with  him, 
leaving  all  the  dead  weight  of  bones  behind.  The 
dense  vegetation  of  the  jungle  terminated  at  the 
foot  of  the  western  slope,  growing  less  and  less 
abundant  as  he  neared  the  summit  beyond  which  was 
a  sparse  growth  of  sickly  scrub  and  sunburned 
grasses,  with  here  and  there  a  gnarled  and  hardy 
tree  that  had  withstood  the  vicissitudes  of  an  almost 
waterless  existence. 

From  the  summit  of  the  hills  Tarzan's  keen  eyes 
searched  the  arid  landscape  before  him.  In  the 
distance  he  discerned  the  ragged  tortuous  lines  that 
marked  the  winding  course  of  the  hideous  gorges 
which  scored  the  broad  plain  at  intervals  —  the  ter 
rible  gorges  that  had  so  nearly  claimed  his  life  in 


THE  BLACK  LION  255 

punishment  for  his  temerity  in  attempting  to  invade 
the  sanctity  of  their  ancient  solitude. 

For  two  days  Tarzan  sought  futilely  for  some 
clew  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  machine  or  its  occu 
pants.  He  cached  portions  of  his  kills  at  different 
points,  building  cairns  of  rock  to  mark  their  loca 
tions.  He  crossed  the  first  deep  gorge  and  circled 
far  beyond  it.  Occasionally  he  stopped  and  called 
aloud,  listening  for  some  response  but  only  silence 
rewarded  him  —  a  sinister  silence  that  his  cries  only 
accentuated. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  second  day  he  came 
to  the  well-remembered  gorge  in  which  lay  the  clean- 
picked  bones  of  the  ancient  adventurer,  and  here,  for 
the  first  time,  Ska,  the  vulture,  picked  up  his  trail. 
"Not  this  time,  Ska,"  cried  the  ape-man  in  a  taunt 
ing  voice,  "for  now  indeed  is  Tarzan  Tarzan.  Be 
fore,  you  stalked  the  grim  skeleton  of  a  Tarmangani 
and  even  then  you  lost.  Waste  not  your  time  upon 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes  in  the  full  of  his  strength.  But 
still  Ska,  the  vulture,  circled  and  soared  above  him, 
and  the  ape-man  notwithstanding  his  boasts,  felt 
a  shudder  of  apprehension.  Through  his  brain  ran 
a  persistent  and  doleful  chant  to  which  he  involun 
tarily  set  two  words,  repeated  over  and  over  again 
in  horrible  monotony :  "  Ska  knows !  Ska  knows ! " 
until,  shaking  himself  in  anger,  he  picked  up  a  rock 
and  hurled  it  at  the  grim  scavenger. 

Lowering  himself  over  the  precipitous  side  of  the 
gorge  Tarzan  half  clambered  and  half  slid  to  the 
sandy  floor  beneath.  He  had  come  upon  the  rift 


256  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

at  almost  the  exact  spot  at  which  he  had  clambered 
from  it  weeks  before,  and  there  he  saw,  just  as  he 
had  left  it,  just,  doubtless,  as  it  had  lain  for  cen 
turies,  the  mighty  skeleton  and  its  mighty  armor. 
As  he  stood  looking  down  upon  this  grim  re 
minder  that  another  man  of  might  had  succumbed  to 
the  cruel  powers  of  the  desert,  he  was  brought  to 
startled  attention  by  the  report  of  a  firearm,  the 
sound  of  which  came  from  the  depths  of  the  gorge 
to  the  south  of  him,  and  reverberated  along  the  steep 
walls  of  the  narrow  rift. 


CHAPTER  XV 

MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS 

S  THE  British  plane  piloted  by  Lieutenant 
Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  rose  above  the 
jungle  wilderness  where  Bertha  Kircher's  life  had 
so  often  been  upon  the  point  of  extinction,  and  sped 
toward  the  east,  the  girl  felt  a  sudden  contraction 
of  the  muscles  of  her  throat.  She  tried  very  hard 
to  swallow  something  that  was  not  there.  It  seemed 
strange  to  her  that  she  should  feel  regret  in  leaving 
behind  her  such  hideous  perils,  and  yet  it  was  plain 
to  her  that  such  was  the  fact,  for  she  was  also 
leaving  behind  something  beside  the  dangers  that 
had  menaced  her — a  unique  figure  that  had  entered 
her  life,  and  for  which  she  felt  an  unaccountable 
attraction. 

Before  her  in  the  pilot's  seat  sat  an  English  officer 
and  gentleman  whom,  she  knew,  loved  her,  and  yet 
she  dared  to  feel  regret  in  his  company  at  leaving 
the  stamping  ground  of  a  wild  beast! 

Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick,  on  his  part,  was  in 
the  seventh  heaven  of  elation.  He  was  in  possession 
again  of  his  beloved  ship,  he  was  flying  swiftly  in 
the  direction  of  his  comrades  and  his  duty,  and 

with  him  was  the  woman  he  loved.     The  fly  in  the 

257 


258  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ointment,  however,  was  the  accusation  Tarzan  had 
made  against  this  woman.  He  had  said  that  she  was 
a  German,  and  a  spy,  and  from  the  heights  of  bliss 
the  English  officer  was  occasionally  plunged  to  the 
depths  of  despair  in  contemplation  of  the  inevitable 
were  the  ape-man's  charges  to  prove  true.  He  found 
himself  torn  between  sentiments  of  love  and  honor. 
On  the  one  hand  he  could  not  surrender  the  woman 
he  loved  to  the  certain  fate  that  must  be  meted  out 
to  her  if  she  were  in  truth  an  enemy  spy,  while 
on  the  other  it  would  be  equally  impossible  for 
him  as  an  Englishman  and  an  officer  to  give  her 
aid  or  protection. 

The  young  man  contented  himself  therefore  with 
repeated  mental  denials  of  her  guilt.  He  tried  to 
convince  himself  that  Tarzan  was  mistaken,  and  when 
he  conjured  upon  the  screen  of  recollection  the  face 
of  the  girl  behind  him,  he  was  doubly  reassured  that 
those  lines  of  sweet  femininity  and  character,  those 
clear  and  honest  eyes,  could  not  belong  to  one  of 
the  hated  alien  race. 

And  so  they  sped  toward  the  east*  each  wrapped 
in  his  own  thoughts.  Below  them  they  saw  the  dense 
vegetation  of  the  jungle  give  place  to  the  scantier 
growth  upon  the  hillside,  and  then  before  them  there 
spread  the  wide  expanse  of  arid  waste-lands  marked 
by  the  deep  scarring  of  the  narrow  gorges  that  long- 
gone  rivers  had  cut  there  in  some  forgotten  age. 

Shortly  after  they  passed  the  summit  of  the  ridge 
which  formed  the  boundary  between  the  desert  and 
the  fertile  country,  Ska,  the  vulture,  winging  ki» 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          259 

way  at  a  high  altitude  toward  his  aerie,  caught  sight 
of  a  strange  new  bird  of  gigantic  proportions  en 
croaching  upon  the  preserves  of  his  aerial  domain. 
Whether  with  intent  to  give  battle  to  the  interloper 
or  merely  impelled  by  curiosity,  Ska  rose  suddenly 
upward  to  meet  the  plane.  Doubtless  he  misjudged 
the  speed  of  the  newcomer,  but  be  that  as  it  may, 
the  tip  of  the  propeller  blade  touched  him  and  simul 
taneously  many  things  happened.  The  lifeless  body 
of  Ska,  torn  and  bleeding,  dropped  plummet-like 
toward  the  ground;  a  bit  of  splintered  spruce  drove 
backward  to  strike  the  pilot  on  the  forehead;  the 
plane  shuddered  and  trembled  and  as  Lieutenant 
Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  sank  forward  in  mo 
mentary  unconsciousness  the  shio  dived  headlong 
toward  the  earth. 

Only  for  an  instant  was  the  pilot  unconscious, 
but  that  instant  almost  proved  their  undoing.  When 
he  awoke  to  a  realization  of  their  peril  it  was  also 
to  discover  that  his  motor  had  stalled.  The  plane 
had  attained  frightful  momentum,  and  the  ground 
seemed  too  close  for  him  to  hope  to  flatten  out 
in  time  to  make  a  safe  landing.  Directly  beneath 
him  was  a  deep  rift  in  the  plateau,  a  narrow  gorge, 
the  bottom  of  which  appeared  comparatively  level 
and  sand  covered. 

In  the  brief  instant  in  which  he  must  reach  a 
decision,  the  safest  plan  seemed  to  attempt  a  landing 
in  the  gorge,  and  this  he  did,  but  not  without  con 
siderable  damage  to  the  plane  and  a  severe  shaking- 
up  for  himself  and  his  passenger. 


260  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Fortunately  neither  of  them  was  injured  but  their 
condition  seemed  indeed  a  hopeless  one.  It  was  a 
grave  question  as  to  whether  the  man  could  repair 
his  plane  and  continue  the  journey,  and  it  seemed 
equally  questionable  as  to  their  ability  either  to  pro 
ceed  on  foot  to  the  coast  or  retrace  their  way  to  the 
country  they  had  just  left.  The  man  was  confident 
that  they  could  not  hope  to  cross  the  desert  country 
to  the  east  in  the  face  of  thirst  and  hunger,  while 
behind  them  in  the  valley  of  plenty  lay  almost  equal 
danger  in  the  form  of  carnivora  and  the  warlike 
natives. 

After  the  plane  came  to  its  sudden  and  disastrous 
stop,  Smith-Oldwick  turned  quickly  to  see  what  the 
effect  of  the  accident  had  been  on  the  girl.  He  found 
her  pale  but  smiling,  and  for  several  seconds  the  two 
sat  looking  at  each  other  in  silence. 

"This  is  the  end?'*  the  girl  asked. 

The  Englishman  shook  his  head.  "It  is  the  end 
of  the  first  leg,  anyway,"  he  replied. 

"But  you  can't  hope  to  make  repairs  here,"  she 
said  dubiously. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  not  if  they  amount  to  anything, 
but  I  may  be  able  to  patch  it  up.  I  will  have  to  look 
her  over  a  bit  first.  Let  us  hope  there  is  nothing 
serious.  It's  a  long,  long  way  to  the  Tanga  railway." 

"We  would  not  get  far,"  said  the  girl,  a  slight 
note  of  hopelessness  in  her  tone.  "  Entirely  unarmed 
as  we  are,  it  would  be  little  less  than  a  miracle  if 
we  covered  even  a  small  fraction  of  the  distance." 

"  But  we  are  not  unarmed,"  replied  the  man.     "  I 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          201 

have  an  extra  pistol  here,  that  the  beggars  didn't 
discover,"  and,  removing  the  cover  of  a  compart 
ment,  he  drew  forth  an  automatic. 

Bertha  Kircher  leaned  back  in  her  seat  and 
laughed  aloud,  a  mirthless,  half-hysterical  laugh. 
"That  popgun!"  she  exclaimed.  "What  earthly 
good  would  it  do  other  than  to  infuriate  any  beast 
of  prey  you  might  happen  to  hit  with  it?" 

Smith-Oldwick  looked  rather  crestfallen.  "But 
it  is  a  weapon,"  he  said.  "You  will  have  to  admit 
that,  and  certainly  I  could  kill  a  man  with  it." 

"You  could  if  you  happened  to  hit  him,"  said 
the  girl,  "  or  the  thing  didn't  j  am.  Really,  I  haven't 
much  faith  in  an  automatic.  I  have  used  them  my 
self." 

"Oh,  of  course,"  he  said  ironically,  "an  express 
rifle  would  be  better,  for  who  knows  but  we  might 
meet  an  elephant  here  in  the  desert." 

The  girl  saw  that  he  was  hurt  and  she  was  sorry, 
for  she  realized  that  there  was  nothing  he  would 
not  do  in  her  service  or  protection,  and  that  it  was 
•through  no  fault  of  his  that  he  was  so  illy  armed. 
Doubtless,  too,  he  realized  as  well  as  she  the  futility 
of  his  weapon,  and  that  he  had  only  called  attention 
to  it  in  the  hope  of  reassuring  her  and  lessening 
her  anxiety. 

"Forgive  me,"  she  said.  "I  did  not  mean  to  be 
nasty,  but  this  accident  is  the  proverbial  last  straw. 
It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  borne  all  that  I  can. 
Though  I  was  willing  to  give  my  life  in  the  service 
of  my  country,  I  did  not  imagine  that  my  death 


262  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

agonies  would  be  so  long  drawn  out  for  I  realize 
now  that  I  have  been  dying  for  many  weeks." 

"What  do  you  mean,"  he  exclaimed;  "what  do 
you  mean  by  that.  You  are  not  dying.  There  is 
nothing  the  matter  with  you." 

"  Oh,  not  that,"  she  said,  "  I  did  not  mean  that. 
What  I  mean  is  that  at  the  moment  the  black  ser 
geant,  Usanga,  and  his  renegade  German  native 
troops  captured  me  and  brought  me  inland,  my 
death  warrant  was  signed.  Sometimes  I  have  real 
ized  that  a  reprieve  has  been  granted.  Sometimes 
I  have  hoped  that  I  might  be  upon  the  verge  of 
winning  a  full  pardon,  but  really  in  the  depths  of 
my  heart  I  have  known  that  I  should  never  live  to 
regain  civilization.  I  have  done  my  bit  for  my 
country  and  though  it  was  not  much  I  can  at  least 
go  with  the  realization  that  it  was  the  best  I  was 
able  to  offer.  All  that  I  can  hope  for  now,  all  that 
I  ask  for,  is  a  speedy  fulfillment  of  the  death  sen 
tence.  I  do  not  wish  to  linger  any  more  to  face  con 
stant  terror  and  apprehension.  Even  physical  tor 
ture  would  be  preferable  to  what  I  have  passed, 
through.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  consider  me  ft 
brave  woman,  but  really  my  terror  has  been  bound 
less.  The  cries  of  the  carnivora  at  night  fill  me  with 
a  dread  so  tangible  that  I  am  in  actual  pain.  J. 
feel  the  rending  talons  in  my  flesh  and  the  cruel 
fangs  munching  upon  my  bones  —  it  is  as  real  to 
me  as  though  I  were  actually  enduring  the  horrors  of 
such  a  death.  I  doubt  if  you  can  understand  it — ' 
men  are  so  different." 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          263 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  think  I  can  understand  it, 
and  because  I  understand  I  can  appreciate  more 
than  you  imagine  the  heroism  you  have  shown  in 
your  endurance  of  all  that  you  have  passed  through. 
There  can  be  no  bravery  where  there  is  no  fear. 
A  child  might  walk  into  a  lion's  den,  but  it  would 
take  a  very  brave  man  to  go  to  its  rescue." 

"Thank  you,"  she  said,  "but  I  am  not  brave  at 
all,  and  now  I  am  very  much  ashamed  of  my  thought 
lessness  for  your  own  feelings.  I  will  try  and  take 
a  new  grip  upon  myself  and  we  will  both  hope  for 
the  best.  I  will  help  you  all  I  can  if  you  will  tell 
me  what  I  may  do." 

"The  first  thing,"  he  replied,  "is  to  find  out  just 
how  serious  our  damage  is,  and  then  to  see  what  we 
can  do  in  the  way  of  repairs." 

For  two  days  Smith-Oldwick  worked  upon  the 
damaged  plane  —  worked  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that 
from  the  first  he  realized  the  case  was  hopeless.  And 
at  last  he  told  her. 

"I  knew  it,"  she  said,  "but  I  believe  that  I  felt 
much  as  you  must  have;  that  however  futile  our  ef 
forts  here  might  be,  it  would  be  infinitely  as  fatal  to 
attempt  to  retrace  our  way  to  the  jungle  we  just  left 
or  to  go  on  toward  the  coast.  You  know  and  I 
know  that  we  could  not  reach  the  Tanga  railway 
on  foot.  We  should  die  of  thirst  and  starvation  be 
fore  we  had  covered  half  the  distance,  and  if  we 
return  to  the  jungle  even  were  we  able  to  reach  it, 
it  would  be  but  to  court  an  equally  certain,  though 
different,  fate." 


264  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"So  we  might  as  well  sit  here  and  wait  for  death 
as  to  uselessly  waste  our  energies  in  what  we  know 
would  be  a  futile  attempt  at  escape?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  she  replied,  "I  shall  never  give  up  like 
that.  What  I  meant  was  that  it  was  useless  to  at 
tempt  to  reach  either  of  the  places  where  we  know 
that  there  is  food  and  water  in  abundance,  so  we 
must  strike  out  in  a  new  direction.  Somewhere  there 
may  be  water  in  this  wilderness  and  if  there  is,  the 
best  chance  of  our  finding  it  would  be  to  follow  this 
gorge  downward.  We  have  enough  food  and  water 
left,  if  we  are  careful  of  it,  for  a  couple  of  days  and 
in  that  time  we  might  stumble  upon  a  spring  or  pos 
sibly  even  reach  the  fertile  country  which  I  know 
lies  to  the  south.  When  Usanga  brought  me  to  the 
Wamabo  country  from  the  coast  he  took  a  southerly 
route  along  which  there  was  usually  water  and  game 
in  plenty.  It  was  not  until  we  neared  our  des 
tination  that  the  country  became  overrun  with  car- 
nivora.  So  there  is  hope  if  we  can  reach  the  fertile 
country  south  of  us  that  we  can  manage  to  pull 
through  to  the  coast." 

The  man  shook  his  head  dubiously.  "We  can  try 
it,"  he  said.  "Personally,  I  do  not  fancy  sitting 
here  waiting  for  death." 

Smith-Oldwick  was  leaning  against  the  ship,  his 
dejected  gaze  directed  upon  the  ground  at  his  feet, 
The  girl  was  looking  south  down  the  gorge  in  the 
direction  of  their  one  slender  chance  of  life.  Sud 
denly  she  touched  him  on  the  arm. 

"Look,"  she  whispered. 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          265 

The  man  raised  his  eyes  quickly  in  the  direction 
of  her  gaze  to  see  the  massive  head  of  a  great  lion 
who  was  regarding  them  from  beyond  a  rocky  pro 
jection  at  the  first  turning  of  the  gorge. 

"Phew!"  he  exclaimed,  "the  beggars  are  every 
where." 

"  They  do  not  go  far  from  water  do  they,"  asked 
the  girl  hopefully. 

"I  should  imagine  not,"  he  replied;  "a  lion  is 
not  particularly  strong  on  endurance." 

"  Then  he  is  a  harbinger  of  hope,"  she  exclaimed. 

The  man  laughed.  "Cute  little  harbinger  of 
hope!"  he  said.  "Reminds  me  of  Cock  Robin  her 
alding  spring." 

The  girl  cast  a  quick  glance  at  him.  "Don't  be 
silly,  and  I  don't  care  if  you  do  laugh.  He  fills 
me  with  hope." 

"It  is  probably  mutual,"  replied  Smith-Oldwick, 
"  as  we  doubtless  fill  him  with  hope." 

The  lion  evidently  having  satisfied  himself  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  creatures  before  him  advanced 
slowly  now  in  their  direction. 

"Come,"  said  the  man,  "let's  climb  aboard,"  and 
he  helped  the  girl  over  the  side  of  the  ship. 

"Can't  he  get  in  here?"  she  asked. 

"I  think  he  can,"  said  the  man. 

"You  are  reassuring,"  she  returned. 

"I  don't  feel  so."     He  drew  his  pistol. 

"For  heaven's  sake,"  she  cried,  "don't  shoot  at 
him  with  that  thing.  You  might  hit  him." 

"I  don't   intend   to   shoot   at  him   but   I  might 


266  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

succeed  in  frightening  him  away  if  he  attempts  to 
reach  us  here.  Haven't  you  ever  seen  a  trainer 
work  with  lions?  He  carries  a  silly  little  pop-gun 
loaded  with  blank  cartridges.  With  that  and  a 
kitchen  chair  he  subdues  the  most  ferocious  of 
beasts." 

"But  you  haven't  a  kitchen  chair,"  she  reminded 
him. 

"No,"  he  said,  "Government  is  always  muddling 
things.  I  have  always  maintained  that  airplanes 
should  be  equipped  with  kitchen  chairs." 

Bertha  Kircher  laughed  as  evenly  and  with  as 
little  hysteria  as  though  she  were  moved  by  the 
small  talk  of  an  afternoon  tea. 

Numa,  the  lion,  came  steadily  toward  them;  his 
attitude  seemed  more  that  of  curiosity  than  of  bel 
ligerency.  Close  to  the  side  of  the  ship  he  stopped 
and  stood  gazing  up  at  them. 

"Magnificent,  isn't  he?"  exclaimed  the  man. 

"  I  never  saw  a  more  beautiful  creature,"  she  re 
plied,  "nor  one  with  such  a  dark  coat.  Why,  he 
is  almost  black." 

The  sound  of  their  voices  seemed  not  to  please 
the  lord  of  the  jungle,  for  he  suddenly  wrinkled  his 
great  face  into  deep  furrows  as  he  bared  his  fangs 
beneath  snarling  lips  and  gave  vent  to  an  angry 
growl.  Almost  simultaneously  he  crouched  for  a 
spring  and  immediately  Smith-Oldwick  discharged 
his  pistol  into  the  ground  in  front  of  the  lion. 
The  effect  of  the  noise  upon  Numa  seemed  but  to 
enrage  him  further,  and  with  a  horrid  roar  he  sprang 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          267 

for  the  author  of  the  new  and  disquieting  sound  that 
had  outraged  his  ears. 

Simultaneously  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith- 
Oldwick  vaulted  nimbly  out  of  the  cockpit  on  the 
opposite  side  of  his  plane,  calling  to  the  girl  to  fol 
low  his  example.  The  girl,  realizing  the  futility  of 
leaping  to  the  ground,  chose  the  remaining  alterna* 
tive  and  clambered  to  the  top  of  the  upper  plane. 

Numa,  unaccustomed  to  the  idiosyncrasies  of  con 
struction  of  an  airship  and  having  gained  the  for 
ward  cockpit,  watched  the  girl  clamber  out  of  his 
reach  without  at  first  endeavoring  to  prevent  her. 
Having  taken  possession  of  the  plane  his  anger 
seemed  suddenly  to  leave  him  and  he  made  no  im 
mediate  move  toward  following  Smith-Oldwick.  The 
girl,  realizing  the  comparative  safety  of  her  posi 
tion,  had  crawled  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  wing  and 
was  calling  to  the  man  to  try  and  reach  the  opposite 
end  of  the  upper  plane. 

It  was  this  scene  upon  which  Tarzan  of  the  Apes 
looked  as  he  rounded  the  bend  of  the  gorge  above 
the  plane  after  the  pistol  shot  had  attracted  his 
attention.  The  girl  was  so  intent  upon  watching 
the  efforts  of  the  Englishman  to  reach  a  place  of 
safety,  and  the  latter  was  so  busily  occupied  in  at 
tempting  to  do.  so  that  neither  at  once  noticed  the 
silent  approach  of  the  ape-man. 

It  was  Numa  who  first  noticed  the  intruder.  The 
lion  immediately  evinced  his  displeasure  by  directing 
toward  him  a  snarling  countenance  and  a  series  of 
warning  growls.  His  action  called  the  attention  of 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


the  two  upon  the  upper  plane  to  the  newcomer, 
eliciting  a  stifled  "  Thank  God ! "  from  the  girl,  even 
though  she  could  scarce  credit  the  evidence  of  her 
own  eyes  that  it  was  indeed  the  savage  man,  whose 
presence  always  assured  her  safety,  who  had  come 
so  providentially  in  the  nick  of  time. 

Almost  immediately  both  were  horrified  to  see 
Numa  leap  from  the  cockpit  and  advance  upon  Tar- 
zan.  The  ape-man,  carrying  his  stout  spear  in' 
readiness,  moved  deliberately  onward  to  meet  the  car 
nivore,  which  he  had  recognized  as  the  lion  of  the 
Wamabos'  pit.  He  knew  from  the  manner  of  Numa's 
approach  what  neither  Bertha  Kircher  nor  Smith- 
Oldwick  knew  —  that  there  was  more  of  curiosity 
than  belligerency  in  it,  and  he  wondered  if  in  that 
great  head  there  might  not  be  a  semblance  of  grati 
tude  for  the  kindness  that  Tarzan  had  done  him. 

There  was  no  question  in  Tarzan's  mind  but  that 
Numa  recognized  him,  for  he  knew  his  fellows  of  the 
jungle  well  enough  to  know  that  while  they  ofttimes 
forgot  certain  sensations  more  quickly  than  man 
there  are  others  which  remain  in  their  memories  for 
years.  A  well-defined  scent  spoor  might  never  be 
forgotten  by  a  beast  if  it  had  first  been  sensed  under 
unusual  circumstances,  and  so  Tarzan  was  confident 
that  Numa's  nose  had  already  reminded  him  of  all 
the  circumstances  of  their  brief  connection. 

Love  of  the  sporting  chance  is  inherent  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  and  it  was  not  now  Tarzan  of  the 
Apes  but  rather  John  Clayton,  Lord  Greystoke,  who 
smilingly  welcomed  the  sporting  chance  which  he 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS 


must  take  to  discover  how  far-reaching  was  Numa's 
gratitude. 

Smith-Oldwick  and  the  girl  saw  the  two  nearing 
each  other.  The  former  swore  softly  beneath  his 
breath  while  he  nervously  fingered  the  pitiful  weapon 
at  his  hip.  The  girl  pressed  her  open  palms  to  her 
cheeks  as  she  leaned  forward  in  stony-eyed,  horror- 
stricken  silence.  While  she  had  every  confidence  in 
the  prowess  of  the  godlike  creature  who  thus  dared 
brazenly  to  face  the  king  of  beasts,  she  had  no  false 
conception  of  what  must  certainly  happen  when  they 
met.  She  had  seen  Tarzan  battle  with  Sheeta,  the 
panther,  and  she  had  realized  then  that  powerful 
as  the  man  was,  it  was  only  agility,  cunning,  and 
chance  that  placed  him  upon  anywhere  near  an  equal 
footing  with  his  savage  adversary,  and  that  of  the 
three  factors  upon  his  side  chance  was  the  greatest. 

She  saw  the  man  and  the  lion  stop  simultaneously, 
not  more  than  a  yard  apart.  She  saw  the  beast's 
tail  whipping  from  side  to  side  and  she  could  hear 
his  deep-throated  growls  rumbling  from  his  cavernous 
breast,  but  she  could  read  correctly  neither  the  move 
ment  of  the  lashing  tail  nor  the  notes  of  the  growl. 

To  her  they  seemed  to  indicate  nothing  but  bestial 
rage  while  to  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  they  were  con 
ciliatory  and  reassuring  in  the  extreme.  And  then 
she  saw  Numa  move  forward  again  until  his  nose 
touched  the  man's  naked  leg  and  she  closed  her  eyes 
and  covered  them  with  her  palms.  For  what  seemed 
an  eternity  she  waited  for  the  horrid  sound  of  the 
conflict  which  she  knew  must  come,  but  all  she  heard 


270  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

was  an  explosive  sigh  of  relief  from  Smith-Oldwick 
and  a  half-hysterical  "By  Jove!     Just  fancy  it!" 

She  looked  up  to  see  the  great  lion  rubbing  his 
shaggy  head  against  the  man's  hip,  and  Tarzan's 
free  hand  entangled  in  the  black  mane  as  he  scratched 
Numa,  the  lion,  behind  a  back-laid  ear. 

Strange  friendships  are  often  formed  between  the 
lower  animals  of  different  species,  but  less  often  be 
tween  man  and  the  savage  carnivora,  because  of  the' 
former's  inherent  fear  of  the  great  cats.  And  so 
after  all,  therefore,  the  friendship  so  suddenly  de 
veloped  between  the  savage  lion  and  the  savage  man 
was  not  inexplicable. 

As  Tarzan  approached  the  plane  Numa  walked 
at  his  side,  and  when  Tarzan  stopped  and  looked 
up  at  the  girl  and  the  man  Numa  stopped  also. 

"I  had  about  given  up  hope  of  finding  you," 
said  the  ape-man,  "  and  it  is  evident  that  I  found 
you  just  in  time." 

"But  how  did  you  know  we  were  in  trouble?" 
asked  the  English  officer. 

"I  saw  your  plane  fall,"  replied  Tarzan.  "I 
was  watching  you  from  a  tree  beside  the  clearing 
where  you  took  off.  I  didn't  have  much  to  locate 
you  by  other  than  the  general  direction,  but  it 
seems  that  you  volplaned  a  considerable  distance 
toward  the  south  after  you  disappeared  from  my 
view  behind  the  hills.  I  have  been  looking  for  you 
further  toward  the  north.  I  was  just  about  to  turn 
back  when  I  heard  your  pistol  shot.  Is  your  ship 
beyond  repair?" 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          271 

"Yes,"   replied   Smith-Oldwick,   "it   is   hopeless." 

"What  are  your  plans,  then?  What  do  you  wish 
to  do?"  Tarzan  directed  his  question  to  the  gin. 

"We  want  to  reach  the  coast,"  she  said,  "but 
it  seems  impossible  now." 

"I  should  have  thought  so  a  little  while  ago," 
replied  the  ape-man,  "but  if  Numa  is  here  there 
mast  be  water  within  a  reasonable  distance.  I  ran 
across  this  lion  two  days  ago  in  the  Wamabo 
country.  I  liberated  him  from  one  of  their  pits.  To 
have  reached  this  spot  he  must  have  come  by  some 
trail  unknown  to  me  —  at  least  I  crossed  no  game 
trail  and  no  spoor  of  any  animal  after  I  came  over 
the  hills  out  of  the  fertile  country.  From  which  di 
rection  did  he  come  upon  you  ?  " 

"It  was  from  the  south,"  replied  the  girl.  "We 
thought  too  that  there  must  be  water  in  that  di 
rection." 

"Let's  find  out  then,"  said  Tarzan. 

"  But  how  about  the  lion  ?  "  asked  Smith-Oldwick. 

"That  we  will  have  to  discover,"  replied  the  ape- 
man,  "  and  we  can  only  do  so  if  you  will  come  down 
from  your  perch." 

The  officer  shrugged  his  shoulders.  The  girl 
turned  her  gaze  upon  him  to  note  the  effect  of  Tar- 
zan's  proposal.  The  Englishman  grew  suddenly 
very  white,  but  there  was  a  smile  upon  his  lips  as 
without  a  word  he  slipped  over  the  edge  of  the  plane 
and  clambered  to  the  ground  behind  Tarzan. 

Bertha  Kircher  realized  that  the  man  was  afraid 
nor  did  she  blame  him,  and  she  also  realized  the  re* 


272  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

markable  courage  that  he  had  shown  in  thus  facing 
a  danger  that  was  very  real  to  him. 

Numa  standing  close  to  Tarzan's  side  raised  his 
head  and  glared  at  the  young  Englishman,  growled 
once,  and  looked  up  at  the  ape-man.  Tarzan  re 
tained  a  hold  upon  the  beast's  mane  and  spoke  to 
him  in  the  language  of  the  great  apes.  To  the  girl 
and  Smith-Oldwick  the  growling  gutturals  falling 
from  human  lips  sounded  uncanny  in  the  extreme, 
but  whether  Numa  understood  them  or  not  they  ap 
peared  to  have  the  desired  effect  upon  him  as  he 
ceased  his  growling,  and  as  Tarzan  walked  to  Smith- 
Oldwick's  side  Numa  accompanied  him,  nor  did  he 
offer  to  molest  the  officer. 

"What  did  you  say  to  him?"  asked  the  girl. 

Tarzan  smiled.  "I  told  him,"  he  replied,  "that 
I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes,  mighty  hunter,  killer  of 
beasts,  lord  of  the  jungle,  and  that  you  are  my 
friends.  I  have  never  been  sure  that  all  of  the  other 
beasts  understand  the  language  of  the  Mangani.  I 
know  that  Manu,  the  monkey,  speaks  nearly  the  same 
tongue  and  I  am  sure  that  Tantor,  the  elephant, 
understands  all  that  I  say  to  him.  We  of  the  jungle 
are  great  boasters.  In  our  speech,  in  our  carriage, 
in  every  little  detail  of  our  demeanor  we  must  im 
press  others  with  our  physical  power  and  our 
ferocity.  That  is  why  we  growl  at  our  enemies.  We 
are  telling  them  to  beware  or  we  shall  fall  upon  them 
and  tear  them  to  pieces.  Perhaps  Numa  does  not 
understand  the  words  that  I  use  but  I  believe  that 
my  tones  and  my  manner  carry  the  impression  that 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          273 

I  wish  them  to  convey.  Now  you  may  come  down 
and  be  introduced." 

It  required  all  the  courage  that  Bertha  Kircher 
possessed  to  lower  herself  to  the  ground  within  reach 
of  the  talons  and  fangs  of  this  untamed  forest  beast, 
but  she  did  it.  Nor  did  Numa  do  more  than  bare 
his  teeth  and  growl  a  little  as  she  came  close  to  the 
ape-man. 

"  I  think  you  are  safe  from  him  as  long  as  I  am 
present,"  said  the  ape-man.  "  The  best  thing  to  do 
is  simply  to  ignore  him.  Make  no  advances,  but  be 
sure  to  give  no  indication  of  fear  and,  if  possible 
always  keep  me  between  you  and  him.  He  will  go 
away  presently  I  am  sure  and  the  chances  are  that 
we  shall  not  see  him  again." 

At  Tarzan's  suggestion  Smith-Oldwick  removed 
the  remaining  water  and  provisions  from  the  plane 
and,  distributing  the  burden  among  them,  they  set 
off  toward  the  south.  Numa  did  not  follow  them, 
but  stood  by  the  plane  watching  until  they  finally 
disappeared  from  view  around  a  bend  in  the 
gorge. 

Tarzan  had  picked  up  Numa's  trail  with  the  in 
tention  of  following  it  southward  in  the  belief  that 
it  would  lead  to  water.  In  the  sand  that  floored  the 
bottom  of  the  gorge  tracks  were  plain  and  easily 
followed.  At  first  only  the  fresh  tracks  of  Numa 
were  visible,  but  later  in  the  day  the  ape-man  dis 
covered  the  older  tracks  of  other  lions  and  just  be 
fore  dark  he  stopped  suddenly  in  evident  surprise. 
His  two  companions  looked  at  him  questioningly,  and 


274  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

in  answer  to  their  implied  interrogations  he  pointed 
at  the  ground  directly  in  front  of  him. 

"Look  at  those,"  he  exclaimed. 

At  first  neither  Smith-Oldwick  nor  the  girl  saw 
anything  but  a  confusion  of  intermingled  prints  of 
padded  feet  in  the  sand,  but  presently  the  girl  dis 
covered  what  Tarzan  had  seen,  and  an  exclamation 
of  surprise  broke  from  her  lips. 

"  The  imprint  of  human  feet !      she  cried. 

Tarzan  nodded. 

"  But  there  are  no  toes,"  the  girl  pointed  out. 

"The  feet  were  shod  with  a  soft  sandal,"  ex-» 
plained  Tarzan. 

"  Then  there  must  be  a  native  village  somewhere 
in  the  vicinity,"  said  Smith-Oldwick. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  ape-man,  "but  not  the  sort  of 
natives  which  we  would  expect  to  find  here  in  this 
part  of  Africa  where  others  all  go  unshod  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  of  Usanga's  renegade  German 
native  troops  who  wear  German  army  shoes.  I  don't 
know  that  you  can  notice  it,  but  it  is  evident  to  me 
that  the  foot  inside  the  sandal  that  made  these  im 
prints  was  not  the  foot  of  a  Negro.  If  you  will 
examine  them  carefully  you  will  notice  that  the  im 
pression  of  the  heel  and  ball  of  the  foot  are  well 
marked  even  through  the  sole  of  the  sandal.  The 
weight  comes  more  nearly  in  the  center  of  a  Negro's 
footprint." 

"Then  you  think  these  were  made  by  a  white 
person?" 

"It  looks   that  way,"  replied  Tarzan,  and  sud- 


MYSTERIOUS  FOOTPRINTS          275 

denly,  to  the  surprise  of  both  the  girl  and  Smith- 
Oldwick,  he  dropped  to  his  hands  and  knees  and 
sniffed  at  the  tracks  —  again  a  beast  utilizing  the 
senses  and  woodcraft  of  a  beast.  Over  an  area  of 
several  square  yards  his  keen  nostrils  sought  the 
identity  of  the  makers  of  the  tracks.  At  length 
he  rose  to  his  feet. 

"It  is  not  the  spoor  of  the  Gomangani,"  he  said, 
"nor  is  it  exactly  like  that  of  white  men.  There 
were  three  who  came  this  way.  They  were  men,  but 
of  what  race  I  do  not  know." 

There  was  no  apparent  change  in  the  nature  of 
the  gorge  except  that  it  had  steadily  grown  deeper 
as  they  followed  it  downward  until  now  the  rocky 
and  precipitous  sides  rose  far  above  them.  At  dif 
ferent  points  natural  caves,  which  appeared  to  have 
been  eroded  by  the  action  of  water  in  some  forgotten 
age,  pitted  the  side  walls  at  various  heights.  Near 
them  was  such  a  cavity  at  the  ground's  level  —  an 
arched  cavern  floored  with  white  sand.  Tarzan  in 
dicated  it  with  a  gesture  of  his  hand. 

"We  will  lair  here  tonight,"  he  said,  and  then 
with  one  of  his  rare,  slow  smiles:  "We  will  camp 
here  tonight." 

Having  eaten  their  meager  supper  Tarzan  bade 
the  girl  enter  the  cavern. 

"  You  will  sleep  inside,"  he  said.  "  The  lieutenant 
and  I  will  lie  outside  at  the  entrance." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  NIGHT  ATTACK 

AS  THE  girl  turned  to  bid  them  good  night,  she 
thought  that  she  saw  a  shadowy  form  moving 
in    the    darkness   beyond    them,    and    almost    simul 
taneously  she  was  sure  that  she  heard  the  sounds 
of  stealthy  movement  in  the  same  direction. 

"What  is  that?"  she  whispered.  "There  is 
something  out  there  in  the  darkness." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Tarzan,  "  it  is  a  lion.  It  has  been 
there  for  some  time.  Hadn't  you  noticed  it  before?  " 

"  Oh ! "  cried  the  girl,  breathing  a  sigh  of  relief, 
"it  is  our  lion?" 

"  No,"  said  Tarzan,  "  it  is  not  our  lion ;  it  is  an 
other  lion  and  he  is  hunting." 

"  He  is  stalking  us  ?  "  asked  the  girl. 

"  He  is,"  replied  the  ape-man.  Smith-Oldwick  fin 
gered  the  grip  of  his  pistol. 

Tarzan  saw  the  involuntary  movement  and  shook 
his  head. 

"Leave  that  thing  where  it  is,  Lieutenant,"  he 
said. 

The  officer  laughed  nervously.  "  I  couldn't  help 
it  you  know,  old  man,"  he  said;  "instinct  of  self- 
preservation  and  all  that." 

276 


THE  NIGHT  ATTACK  £77 

"  It  would  prove  an  instinct  of  self-destruction,'* 
said  Tarzan.  "There  are  at  least  three  hunting 
lions  out  there  watching  us.  If  we  had  a  fire  or  the 
moon  were  up  you  would  see  their  eyes  plainly.  Pres 
ently  they  may  come  after  us  but  the  chances  are 
that  they  will  not.  If  you  are  very  anxious  that 
they  should,  fire  your  pistol  and  hit  one  of  them." 

"  What  if  they  do  charge  ?  "  asked  the  girl ;  "  there 
is  no  means  of  escape." 

"Why,  we  should  have  to  fight  them,"  replied 
Tarzan. 

"What  chance  would  we  three  have  against 
them  ?  "  asked  the  girl. 

The  ape-man  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  One  must 
die  sometime,"  he  said.  "To  you  doubtless  it  may 
seem  terrible  —  such  a  death;  but  Tarzan  of  the 
Apes  has  always  expected  to  go  out  in  some  such 
way.  Few  of  us  die  of  old  age  in  the  jungle,  nor 
should  I  care  to  die  thus.  Some  day  Numa  will 
get  me,  or  Sheeta,  or  a  black  warrior.  These  or 
some  of  the  others.  What  difference  does  it  make 
which  it  is,  or  whether  it  comes  tonight  or  next  year 
or  in  ten  years?  After  it  is  over  it  will  be  all  the 
same." 

The  girl  shuddered.  "Yes,"  she  said  in  a  dull, 
hopeless  voice,  "  after  it  is  over  it  will  be  all  the 
same." 

Then  she  went  into  the  cavern  and  lay  down  upon 
the  sand.  Smith-Oldwick  sat  in  the  entrance  and 
leaned  against  the  cliff.  Tarzan  squatted  on  the 
opposite  side. 


278  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"  May  I  smoke  ?  "  questioned  the  officer  of  Tarzan. 
"I  have  been  hoarding  a  few  cigarettes  and  if  it 
won't  attract  those  bounders  out  there  I  would  like 
to  have  one  last  smoke  before  I  cash  in.  Will  you 
join  me?"  and  he  proffered  the  ape-man  a  cigarette. 

"No,  thanks,"  said  Tarzan,  "but  it  will  be  all 
right  if  you  smoke.  No  wild  animal  is  particularly 
fond  of  the  fumes  of  tobacco  so  it  certainly  won't 
entice  them  any  closer." 

Smith-Oldwick  lighted  his  cigarette  and  sat  puffing 
slowly  upon  it.  He  had  proffered  one  to  the  girl 
but  she  had  refused,  and  thus  they  sat  in  silence  for 
some  time,  the  silence  of  the  night  ruffled  occasionally 
by  the  faint  crunching  of  padded  feet  upon  the  soft 
sands  of  the  gorge's  floor. 

It  was  Smith-Oldwick  who  broke  the  silence. 
"Aren't  they  unusually  quiet  for  lions?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  replied  the  ape-man;  "the  lion  that  goes 
roaring  around  the  jungle  does  not  do  it  to  attract 
prey.  They  are  very  quiet  when  they  are  stalking 
their  quarry." 

"I  wish  they  would  r,oar,"  said  the  officer.  "I 
wish  they  would  do  anything,  even  charge.  Just 
knowing  that  they  are  there  and  occasionally  seeing 
something  like  a  shadow  in  the  darkness,  and  the 
faint  sounds  that  come  to  us  from  them  are  getting 
on  my  nerves.  But  I  hope,"  he  said,  "  that  all  three 
don't  charge  at  once." 

"Three?"  said  Tarzan.  "There  are  seven  of 
them  out  there  now." 

"Good  Lord!"  exclaimed  Smith-Oldwick. 


THE  NIGHT  ATTACK  279 

"  Couldn't  we  build  a  fire,"  asked  the  girl,  "  and 
.frighten  them  away?" 

"I  don't  know  that  it  would  do  any  good,"  said 
Tarzan,  "  as  I  have  an  idea  that  these  lions  are  a 
little  different  from  any  that  we  are  familiar  with 
and  possibly  for  the  same  reason  which  at  first 
puzzled  me  a  little  —  I  refer  to  the  apparent  docility 
in  the  presence  of  a  man  of  the  lion  who  was  with 
us  today.  A  man  is  out  there  now  with  those  lions." 

"  It  is  impossible ! "  exclaimed  Smith-Oldwick. 
"  They  would  tear  him  to  pieces." 

"What  makes  you  think  there  is  a  man  there?'* 
asked  the  girl. 

Tarzan  smiled  and  shook  his  head.  "  I  am  afraid 
you  would  not  understand,"  he  replied.  "It  is  diffi 
cult  for  us  to  understand  anything  that  is  beyond 
our  own  powers." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  asked  the  officer. 

"  Well,"  said  Tarzan,  "  if  you  had  been  born  with 
out  eyes  you  could  not  understand  sense  impressions 
that  the  eyes  of  others  transmit  to  their  brains,  and 
as  you  have  both  been  born  without  any  sense  of 
smell  I  am  afraid  you  cannot  understand  how  I  can 
know  that  there  is  a  man  there." 

"You  mean  that  you  scent  a  man?"  asked  the 
girl. 

Tarzan  nodded  affirmatively. 

"And  in  the  same  way  you  know  the  number  of 
lions?"  asked  the  man. 

"Yes,"  said  Tarzan.  "No  two  lions  look  alike, 
no  two  have  the  same  scent." 


230  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

The  young  Englishman  shook  his  head.  "No," 
he  said,  "I  cannot  understand."  « 

"I  doubt  if  the  lions  or  the  man  are  here  neces 
sarily  for  the  purpose  of  harming  us,"  said  Tarzan, 
"because  there  has  been  nothing  to  prevent  their 
doing  so  long  before  had  they  wished  to.  I  have  a 
theory,  but  it  is  utterly  preposterous." 

"What  is  it?"  asked  the  girl. 

"  I  think  they  are  here,"  replied  Tarzan,  "  to  pre 
vent  us  from  going  some  place  that  they  do  not  wish 
us  to  go;  in  other  words  we  are  under  surveillance, 
and  possibly  as  long  as  we  don't  go  where  we  are 
not  wanted  we  shall  not  be  bothered." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  know  where  they  don't  want 
us  to  go?"  asked  Smith-Oldwick. 

"We  can't  know,"  replied  Tarzan,  "and  the 
chances  are  that  the  very  place  we  are  seeking  is 
the  place  they  don't  wish  us  to  trespass  on." 

"You  mean  the  water?"  asked  the  girl. 

"Yes,"  replied  Tarzan. 

For  some  time  they  sat  in  silence  which  was  broken 
only  by  an  occasional  sound  of  movement  from  the 
outer  darkness.  It  must  have  been  an  hour  later 
that  the  ape-man  rose  quietly  and  drew  his  long 
blade  from  its  sheath.  Smith-Oldwick  was  dozing 
against  the  rocky  wall  of  the  cavern  entrance  while 
the  girl,  exhausted  by  the  excitement  and  fatigue  of 
the  day,  had  fallen  into  deep  slumber.  An  instant 
after  Tarzan  arose,  Smith-Oldwick  and  the  girl  were 
aroused  by  a  volley  of  thunderous  roars  and  the  noise 
of  many  padded  feet  rushing  toward  them. 


THE  NIGHT  ATTACK  281 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes  stood  directly  before  the  en 
trance  to  the  cavern,  his  knife  in  his  hand,  awaiting 
the  charge.  The  ape-man  had  not  expected  any 
such  concerted  action  as  he  now  realized  had  been 
taken  by  those  watching  them.  He  had  known  for 
some  time  that  other  men  had  joined  those  who 
were  with  the  lions  earlier  in  the  evening,  and  when 
he  arose  to  his  feet  it  was  because  he  knew  that  the 
lions  and  the  men  were  moving  cautiously  closer  to 
him  and  his  party.  He  might  easily  have  eluded 
them,  for  he  had  seen  that  the  face  of  the  cliff  ris 
ing  above  the  mouth  of  the  cavern  might  be  scaled 
by  as  good  a  climber  as  himself.  It  might  have  been 
wiser  had  he  tried  to  escape,  for  he  knew  that  in  the 
face  of  such  odds  even  he  was  helpless,  but  he  stood 
his  ground  though  I  doubt  if  he  could  have  told  why. 

He  owed  nothing  either  of  duty  or  friendship  to 
the  girl  sleeping  in  the  cavern,  nor  could  he  longer 
be  of  any  protection  to  her  or  her  companion.  Yet 
something  held  him  there  in  futile  self-sacrifice. 

The  great  Tarmangani  had  not  even  the  satis 
faction  of  striking  a  blow  in  self-defense.  A  veri 
table  avalanche  of  savage  beasts  rolled  over  him 
and  threw  him  heavily  to  the  ground.  In  falling  his 
head  struck  the  rocky  surface  of  the  cliff,  stunning 
him. 

It  was  daylight  when  he  regained  consciousness. 
The  first  dim  impression  borne  to  his  awakening  mind 
was  a  confusion  of  savage  sounds  which  gradually 
resolved  themselves  into  the  growling  of  lions,  and 
then,  little  by  little,  there  came  back  to  him  the 


£82  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

recollections  of  what  had  preceded  the  blow  that  had 
felled  him. 

Strong  in  his  nostrils  was  the  scent  of  Numa,  the 
lion,  and  against  one  naked  leg  he  could  feel  the 
coat  of  some  animal.  Slowly  Tarzan  opened  his 
eyes.  He  was  lying  on  his  side  and  as  he  looked 
down  his  body,  he  saw  that  a  great  lion  stood 
straddling  him — a  great  lion  who  growled  hideously 
at  something  which  Tarzan  could  not  see. 

With  the  full  return  of  his  senses  Tarzan's  nose 
told  him  that  the  beast  above  him  was  Numa  of  the 
Wamabo  pit. 

Thus  reassured,  the  ape-man  spoke  to  the  lion  and 
at  the  same  time  made  a  motion  as  though  he  would 
arise.  Immediately  Numa  stepped  from  above  him. 
As  Tarzan  raised  his  head,  he  saw  that  he  still  lay 
where  he  had  fallen  before  the  opening  of  the  cliff 
where  the  girl  had  been  sleeping  and  that  Numa, 
backed  against  the  cliffside,  was  apparently  defend 
ing  him  from  two  other  lions  who  paced  to  and  fro 
a  short  distance  from  their  intended  victim. 

And  then  Tarzan  turned  his  eyes  into  the  cave 
and  saw  that  the  girl  and  Smith-Oldwick  were  gone. 

His  efforts  and  sacrifices  had  been  for  naught. 
With  an  angry  toss  of  his  head,  the  ape-man  turned 
upon  the  two  lions  who  had  continued  to  pace  back 
and  forth  a  few  yards  from  him.  Numa  of  the  lion 
pit  turned  a  friendly  glance  in  Tarzan's  direction, 
rubbed  his  head  against  the  ape-man's  side,  and  then 
directed  his  snarling  countenance  toward  the  two 
hunters. 


THE  NIGHT  'ATTACK  283 

"  I  think,"  said  Tarzan  to  Numa,  "  that  you  and 
I  together  can  make  these  beasts  very  unhappy." 
He  spoke  in  English  which,  of  course,  Numa  did 
not  understand  at  all,  but  there  must  have  been 
something  reassuring  in  the  tone,  for  Numa  whined 
pleadingly  and  moved  impatiently  to  and  fro  parallel 
with  their  antagonists. 

"Come,"  said  Tarzan  suddenly  and  grasping  the 
lion's  mane  with  his  left  hand  he  moved  forward 
toward  the  other  lions,  his  companion  pacing  at  his 
side.  As  the  two  advanced  the  others  drew  slowly 
back  and,  finally  separating,  moved  off  to  either  side. 
Tarzan  and  Numa  passed  between  them  but  neither 
the  great  black-maned  lion  nor  the  man  failed  to  keep 
an  eye  upon  the  beast  nearer  him  so  that  they  were 
not  caught  unawares  when,  as  though  at  some  pre 
concerted  signal,  the  two  cats  charged  simultaneously 
from  opposite  directions. 

The  ape-man  met  the  charge  of  his  antagonist 
after  the  same  fashion  of  fighting  that  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  employing  in  previous  encounters  with 
Numa  and  Sheeta.  To  have  attempted  to  meet  the 
full  shock  of  a  lion's  charge  would  have  been  suicidal 
even  for  the  giant  Tarmangani.  Instead  he  resorted 
to  methods  of  agility  and  cunning,  for  quick  as  are 
the  great  cats,  even  quicker  is  Tarzan  of  the  Apes. 

With  outspread,  raking  talons  and  bared  fangs 
Numa  sprang  for  the  naked  chest  of  the  ape-man. 
Throwing  up  his  left  arm  as  a  boxer  might  ward 
off  a  blow,  Tarzan  struck  upward  beneath  the  left 
forearm  of  the  lion,  at  the  same  time  rushing  in 


284  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

with  his  shoulder  beneath  the  animal's  body  and 
simultaneously  drove  his  blade  into  the  tawny  hide 
behind  the  shoulder.  With  a  roar  of  pain  Numa 
wheeled  again,  the  personification  of  bestial  rage. 
Now  indeed  would  he  exterminate  this  presumptions 
man-thing  who  dared  even  to  think  that  he  could 
thwart  the  king  of  beasts  in  his  desires.  But  aa 
he  wheeled,  his  intended  quarry  wheeled  with  him, 
brown  fingers  locked  in  the  heavy  mane  on  the  power 
ful  neck  and  again  the  blade  struck  deep  into  the 
lion's  side. 

Then  it  was  that  Numa  went  mad  with  hate  and 
pain  and  at  the  same  instant  the  ape-man  leaped 
full  upon  his  back.  Easily  before  had  Tarzan 
locked  his  legs  beneath  the  belly  of  a  lion  while  he 
clung  to  its  long  mane  and  stabbed  it  until  his 
point  reached  its  heart.  So  easy  it  had  seemed  be 
fore  that  he  experienced  a  sharp  feeling  of  resent 
ment  that  he  was  unable  to  do  so  now,  for  the  quick 
movements  of  the  lion  prevented  him,  and  presently, 
to  his  dismay,  as  the  lion  leaped  and  threw  him 
about,  the  ape-man  realized  that  he  was  swinging 
inevitably  beneath  those  frightful  talons. 

^With  a  final  effort  he  threw  himself  from  Numa's 
back  and  sought,  by  his  quickness,  to  elude  the 
frenzied  beast  for  the  fraction  of  an  instant  that 
would  permit  him  to  regain  his  feet  and  meet  the 
animal  again  upon  a  more  even  footing.  But  this 
time  Numa  was  too  quick  for  him  and  he  was  but 
partially  up  when  a  great  paw  struck  him,  on  tfc* 
side  of  the  head  and  bowled  him  over. 


THE  NIGHT  ATTACK  285 

As  he  fell  he  saw  a  black  streak  shoot  above  him 
and  another  lion  close  upon  his  antagonist.  Rolling 
from  beneath  the  two  battling  lions  Tarzan  regained 
his  feet,  though  he  was  half  dazed  and  staggering 
from  the  impact  of  the  terrible  blow  he  had  received. 
Behind  him  he  saw  a  lifeless  lion  lying  torn  and 
bleeding  upon  the  sand,  and  before  him  Numa  of 
the  pit  was  savagely  mauling  the  second  lion. 

He  of  the  black  coat  tremendously  outclassed  his 
adversary  in  point  of  size  and  strength  as  well  as 
in  ferocity.  The  battling  beasts  made  a  few  feints 
and  passes  at  each  other  before  the  larger  succeeded 
in  fastening  his  fangs  in  the  other's  throat  and  then, 
as  a  cat  shakes  a  mouse,  the  larger  lion  shook  the 
lesser,  and  when  his  dying  foe  sought  to  roll  beneath 
and  rake  his  conqueror  with  his  hind  claws,  the  other 
met  him  halfway  at  his  own  game,  and  as  the  great 
talons  buried  themselves  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
other's  chest  and  then  were  raked  downward  with 
all  the  terrific  strength  of  the  mighty  hind  legs,  the 
battle  was  ended. 

As  Numa  rose  from  his  second  victim  and  shook 
himself,  Tarzan  could  not  but  again  note  the 
wondrous  proportions  and  symmetry  of  the  beast. 
The  lions  they  had  bested  were  splendid  specimens 
themselves  and  in  their  coats  Tarzan  noticed  a  sug 
gestion  of  the  black  which  was  such  a  strongly 
marked  characteristic  of  Numa  of  the  pit.  Their 
manes  were  just  a  trifle  darker  than  an  ordinary 
black-maned  lion  but  the  tawny  shade  on  the  balance 
of  their  coats  predominated.  However,  the  ape-man 


286  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

realized  that  they  were  a  distinct  species  from  any 
he  had  seen  as  though  they  had  sprung  originally 
from  a  cross  between  the  forest  lion  of  his  acquaint 
ance  and  a  breed  of  which  Numa  of  the  pit  might  be 
typical. 

The  immediate  obstruction  in  his  way  having  been 
removed,  Tarzan  was  for  setting  out  in  search  of 
the  spoor  of  the  girl  and  Smith-Oldwick  that  he 
might  discover  their  fate.  He  suddenly  found  him 
self  tremendously  hungry  and  as  he  circled  about 
over  the  sandy  bottom  searching  among  the  tangled 
network  of  innumerable  tracks  for  those  of  his 
proteges,  there  broke  from  his  lips  involuntarily  the 
whine  of  a  hungry  beast.  Immediately  Numa  of  the 
pit  pricked  up  his  ears  and,  regarding  the  ape-man 
steadily  for  a  moment,  he  answered  the  call  of  hunger 
and  started  briskly  off  toward  the  south,  stopping 
occasionally  to  see  if  Tarzan  was  following. 

The  ape-man  realized  that  the  beast  was  leading 
him  to  food,  and  so  he  followed  and  as  he  followed 
his  keen  eyes  and  sensitive  nostrils  sought  for  some 
indication  of  the  direction  taken  by  the  man  and  the 
girl.  Presently  out  of  the  mass  of  lion  tracks,  Tar 
zan  picked  up  those  of  many  sandled  feet  and  the 
scent  spoor  of  the  members  of  the  strange  race  such 
as  had  been  with  the  lions  the  night  before,  and 
then  faintly  he  caught  the  scent  spoor  of  the  girl 
and  a  little  later  that  of  Smith-Oldwick.  Presently 
the  tracks  thinned  and  here  those  of  the  girl  and  the 
Englishman  became  well  marked. 

They  had  been  walking  side  by  side  and  there  had 


THE  NIGHT  ATTACK  287 

been  men  and  lions  to  the  right  and  left  of  them,  and 
men  and  lions  in  front  and  behind.  The  ape-man 
was  puzzled  by  the  possibilities  suggested  by  the 
tracks,  but  in  the  light  of  any  previous  experience 
he  could  not  explain  satisfactorily  to  himself  what 
his  perceptions  indicated. 

Thore  was  little  change  in  the  formation  of  the 
gorge;  it  still  wound  its  erratic  course  between  pre 
cipitous  cliffs.  In  places  it  widened  out  and  again 
it  became  very  narrow  and  always  deeper  the  farther 
south  they  traveled.  Presently  the  bottom  of  the 
gorge  began  to  slope  more  rapidly.  Here  and  there 
were  indications  of  ancient  rapids  and  waterfalls. 
The  trail  became  more  difficult  but  was  well  marked 
and  showed  indications  of  great  antiquity,  and,  in 
places,  the  handiwork  of  man.  They  had  proceeded 
for  a  half  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile  when,  at  a 
turning  of  the  gorge,  Tarzan  saw  before  him  a 
narrow  valley  cut  deep  into  the  living  rock  of  the 
earth's  crust  with  lofty  mountain  ranges  bounding 
it  upon  the  south.  How  far  it  extended  east  and 
west  he  could  not  see,  but  apparently  it  was  no 
more  than  three  or  four  miles  across  from  north  to 
south. 

That  it  was  a  well-watered  valley  was  indicated 
by  the  wealth  of  vegetation  that  carpeted  its  floor 
from  the  rocky  cliffs  upon  the  north  to  the  moun 
tains  on  the  south. 

Over  the  edge  of  the  cliffs  from  which  the  ape-man 
viewed  the  valley  a  trail  had  been  hewn  that  led 
downward  to  the  base.  Preceded  by  the  lion  Tarzan 


288  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

descended  into  the  valley  which,  at  this  point,  was 
forested  with  large  trees.  Before  him  the  trail 
wound  onward  toward  the  center  of  the  valley. 
Raucous-voiced  birds  of  brilliant  plumage  screamed 
among  the  branches  while  innumerable  monkeys  chat 
tered  and  scolded  above  him. 

The  forest  teemed  with  life  and  yet  there  was 
borne  in  upon  the  ape-man  a  sense  of  unutterable 
loneliness,  a  sensation  that  he  never  before  had  felt 
in  his  beloved  jungles.  There  was  unreality  in  every 
thing  about  him  —  in  the  valley  itself,  lying  hidden 
and  forgotten  in  what  was  supposed  to  be  an  arid 
waste.  The  birds  and  the  monkeys,  while  similar  in 
type  to  many  with  which  he  was  familiar,  were  iden 
tical  with  none,  nor  was  the  vegetation  without  its 
idiosyncrasies.  It  was  as  though  he  had  been  sud 
denly  transported  to  another  world  and  he  felt  a 
strange  restlessness  that  might  easily  have  been  a 
premonition  of  danger. 

Fruits  were  growing  among  the  trees  and  some 
of  these  he  saw  that  Manu,  the  monkey,  ate.  Being 
hungry  he  swung  to  the  lower  branches  and,  amidst 
a  great  chattering  of  the  monkeys,  proceeded  to  eat 
such  of  the  fruit  as  he  saw  the  monkeys  ate  in  safety. 
When  he  had  partially  satisfied  his  hunger,  for  meat 
alone  could  fully  do  so,  he  looked  about  him  for 
Numa  of  the  pit  to  discover  that  the  lion  had  gone. 


CHAPTER 

THE    WALLED    CITY 

DROPPING  to  the  ground  once  more  he  picked 
up  the  trail  of  the  girl  and  her  captors  which 
he  followed  easily  along  what  appeared  to  be  a  well- 
beaten  trail.  It  was  not  long  before  he  came  to  a 
small  stream  where  he  quenched  his  thirst,  and  there 
after  he  saw  that  the  trail  followed  in  the  general 
direction  of  the  stream  which  ran  southwesterly. 
Here  and  there  were  cross  trails  and  others  which 
joined  the  main  avenue,  and  always  upon  each  of 
them  were  the  tracks  and  scent  of  the  great  cats, 
of  Numa,  the  lion,  and  Sheeta,  the  panther. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  small  rodents  there 
appeared  to  be  no  other  wild  life  on  the  surface  of 
the  valley.  There  was  no  indication  of  Bara,  the 
deer,  or  Horta,  the  boar,  or  of  Gorgo,  the  buffalo, 
Buto,  Tantor,  or  Duro.  Histah,  the  snake,  was 
there.  He  saw  him  in  the  trees  in  greater  numbers 
than  he  ever  had  seen  Histah  before ;  and  once  beside 
a  reedy  pool  he  caught  a  scent  that  could  have 
belonged  to  none  other  than  Gimla,  the  crocodile,  but 
upon  none  of  these  did  the  Tarmangani  care  to  feed. 

And  so,  as  he  craved  meat,  he  turned  his  attention 

to  the  birds  above  him.     His  assailants  of  the  night 

289 


290  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

before  had  not  disarmed  him.  Either  in  the  darkness 
and  the  rush  of  the  charging  lions  the  human  foe 
had  overlooked  him  or  else  they  had  considered  him 
dead;  but  whatever  the  reason  he  still  retained  his 
weapons  —  his  spear  and  his  long  knife,  his  bow  and 
arrows,  and  his  grass  rope. 

Fitting  a  shaft  to  his  bow  Tarzan  awaited  an 
opportunity  to  bring  down  one  of  the  larger  birds, 
and  when  the  opportunity  finally  presented  itself 
he  drove  the  arrow  straight  to  its  mark.  As  the 
gaily  plumaged  creature  fluttered  to  earth  its  com 
panions  and  the  little  monkeys  set  up  a  most  terrific 
chorus  of  wails  and  screaming  protests.  The  whole 
forest  became  suddenly  a  babel  of  hoarse  screams 
and  shrill  shrieks. 

Tarzan  would  not  have  been  surprised  had  one  or 
two  birds  in  the  immediate  vicinity  given  voice  to 
terror  as  they  fled,  but  that  the  whole  life  of  the 
jungle  should  set  up  so  weird  a  protest  filled  him 
with  disgust.  It  was  an  angry  face  that  he  turned 
up  toward  the  monkeys  and  the  birds  as  there  sud 
denly  stirred  within  him  a  savage  inclination  to  voice 
his  displeasure  and  his  answer  to  what  he  considered 
their  challenge.  And  so  it  was  that  there  broke  upon 
this  jungle  for  the  first  time  Tarzan's  hideous  scream, 
of  victory  and  challenge. 

The  effect  upon  the  creatures  above  him  was  in 
stantaneous.  Where  before  the  air  had  trembled  to 
the  din  of  their  voices,  now  utter  silence  reigned  and 
a  moment  later  the  ape-man  was  alone  with  his  puny 
kill. 


THE  WALLED  CITY  291 

The  silence  following  so  closely  the  previous 
tumult  carried  a  sinister  impression  to  the  ape-man, 
which  still  further  aroused  his  anger.  Picking  the 
bird  from  where  it  had  fallen  he  withdrew  his  arrow 
from  the  body  and  returned  it  to  his  quiver.  Then 
with  his  knife  he  quickly  and  deftly  removed  the 
skin  and  feathers  together.  He  ate  angrily,  growl 
ing  as  though  actually  menaced  by  a  near-by  foe, 
and  perhaps,  too,  his  growls  were  partially  induced 
by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  care  for  the  flesh  of  birds. 
Better  this,  however,  than  nothing  and  from  what  his 
senses  had  told  him  there  was  no  flesh  in  the  vicinity 
such  as  he  was  accustomed  to  and  cared  most  for. 
How  he  would  have  enjoyed  a  juicy  haunch  from 
Pacco,  the  zebra,  or  a  steak  from  the  loin  of  Gorgo, 
the  buffalo !  The  very  thought  made  his  mouth 
water  and  increased  his  resentment  against  this 
unnatural  forest  that  harbored  no  such  delicious 
quarry. 

He  had  but  partially  consumed  his  kill  when  he 
suddenly  became  aware  of  a  movement  in  the  brush 
at  no  great  distance  from  him  and  down  wind,  and 
a  moment  later  his  nostrils  picked  up  the  scent  of 
Numa  from  the  opposite  direction,  and  then  upon 
either  side  he  caught  the  fall  of  padded  feet  and 
the  brushing  of  bodies  against  leafy  branches.  The 
ape-man  smiled.  What  stupid  creature  did  they 
think  him,  to  be  surprised  by  such  clumsy  stalkers? 
Gradually  the  sounds  and  the  scents  indicated  that 
lions  were  moving  upon  him  from  all  directions, 
that  he  was  in  the  center  of  a  steadily  converging 


292  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

circle  of  beasts.  Evidently  they  were  so  sure  of 
their  prey  that  they  were  making  no  effort  toward 
stealth,  for  he  heard  twigs  crack  beneath  their  feet, 
and  the  brushing  of  their  bodies  against  the  vegeta 
tion  through  which  they  forced  their  way. 

He  wondered  what  could  have  brought  them.  It 
seemed  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the  cries  of  the 
birds  and  the  monkeys  should  have  summoned  them, 
and  yet,  if  not,  it  was  indeed  a  remarkable  coinci 
dence.  His  judgment  told  him  that  the  death  of  a 
single  bird  in  this  forest  which  teemed  with  birds 
could  scarce  be  of  sufficient  moment  to  warrant  that 
which  followed.  Yet  even  in  the  face  of  reason  and 
past  experience  he  found  that  the  whole  affair 
perplexed  him. 

He  stood  in  the  center  of  the  trail  awaiting  the 
coming  of  the  lions  and  wondering  what  would  be 
the  method  of  their  attack  or  if  they  would  indeed 
attack.  Presently  a  maned  lion  came  into  view  along 
the  trail  below  him.  At  sight  of  him  the  lion  halted. 
The  beast  was  similar  to  those  that  had  attacked 
him  earlier  in  the  day,  a  trifle  larger  and  a  trifle 
darker  than  the  lions  of  his  native  jungles,  but 
neither  so  large  nor  so  black  as  Numa  of  the  pit. 

Presently  he  distinguished  the  outlines  of  other 
lions  in  the  surrounding  brush  and  among  the  trees. 
Each  of  them  halted  as  it  came  within  sight  of  the 
ape-man  and  there  they  stood  regarding  him  in 
silence.  Tarzan  wondered  how  long  it  would  be 
before  they  charged  and  while  he  waited  he  resumed 
his  feeding,  though  with  every  sense  constantly  alert. 


THE  WALLED  CITY  293 

One  by  one  the  lions  lay  down,  but  always  their 
faces  were  toward  him  and  their  eyes  upon  him. 
There  had  been  no  growling  and  no  roaring — just 
the  quiet  drawing  of  the  silent  circle  about  him.  It 
was  all  so  entirely  foreign  to  anything  that  Tarzan 
ever  before  had  seen  lions  do  that  it  irritated  him  so 
that  presently,  having  finished  his  repast,  he  fell  to 
making  insulting  remarks  to  first  one  and  then 
another  of  the  lions,  after  the  habit  he  had  learned 
from  the  apes  of  his  childhood. 

"Dango,  eater  of  carrion,'*  he  called  them,  and 
he  compared  them  most  unfavorably  with  Histah,  the 
snake,  the  most  loathed  and  repulsive  creature  of 
the  jungle.  Finally  he  threw  handfuls  of  earth  at 
them  and  bits  of  broken  twigs,  and  then  the  lions 
growled  and  bared  their  fangs,  but  none  of  them 
advanced. 

"  Cowards,"  Tarzan  taunted  them.  "  Numa 
with  a  heart  of  Bara,  the  deer."  He  told  them  who 
he  was,  and  after  the  manner  of  the  jungle  folk 
he  boasted  as  to  the  horrible  things  he  would 
do  to  them,  but  the  lions  only  lay  and  watched 
him. 

It  must  have  been  a  half  hour  after  their  coming 
that  Tarzan  caught  in  the  distance  along  the  trail 
the  sound  of  footsteps  approaching.  They  were 
the  footsteps  of  a  creature  who  walked  upon  two 
legs,  and  though  Tarzan  could  catch  no  scent  spoor 
from  that  direction  he  knew  that  a  man  was  ap 
proaching.  Nor  had  he  long  to  wait  before  his 
judgment  was  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  a  man 


294  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

who  halted  in  the  trail  directly  behind  the  first  lion 
that  Tarzan  had  seen. 

At  sight  of  the  newcomer  the  ape-man  realized 
that  here  was  one  similar  to  those  who  had  given 
off  the  unfamiliar  scent  spoor  that  he  had  detected 
the  previous  night,  and  he  saw  that  not  only  in  the 
matter  of  scent  did  the  man  differ  from  other  human 
beings  with  whom  Tarzan  was  familiar. 

The  fellow  was  strongly  built  with  skin  of  a 
leathery  appearance,  like  parchment  yellowed  with 
age.  His  hair,  which  was  coal  black  and  three  or 
four  inches  in  length,  grew  out  stiffly  at  right  angles 
to  his  scalp.  His  eyes  were  close  set  and  the  irises 
densely  black  and  very  small,  so  that  the  white 
of  the  eyeball  showed  around  them.  The  man's 
face  was  smooth  except  for  a  few  straggly  hairs 
on  his  chin  and  upper  lip.  The  nose  was  aquiline 
and  fine,  but  the  hair  grew  so  far  down  on  the 
forehead  as  to  suggest  a  very  low  and  brutal  type. 
The  upper  lip  was  short  and  fine  while  the  lower 
lip  was  rather  heavy  and  inclined  to  be  pendulous, 
the  chin  being  equally  weak.  Altogether  the  face 
carried  the  suggestion  of  a  once  strong  and  hand 
some  countenance  entirely  altered  by  physical  vio 
lence  or  by  degraded  habits  and  thoughts.  The 
man's  arms  were  long,  though  not  abnormally  so, 
while  his  legs  were  short,  though  straight. 

He  was  clothed  in  tight-fitting  nether  garments 
and  a  loose,  sleeveless  tunic  that  fell  just  below  his 
hips,  while  his  feet  were  shod  in  soft-soled  sandals, 
the  wrappings  of  which  extended  halfway  to  his 


THE  WALLED  CITY  295 

knees,  closely  resembling  a  modern  spiral  military 
legging.  He  carried  a  short,  heavy  spear,  and  at 
his  side  swung  a  weapon  that  at  first  so  astonished 
the  ape-man  that  he  could  scarcely  believe  the  evi 
dence  of  his  senses  —  a  heavy  saber  in  a  leather-cov 
ered  scabbard.  The  man's  tunic  appeared  to  have 
been  fabricated  upon  a  loom  —  it  was  certainly  not 
made  of  skins,  while  the  garments  that  covered  his 
legs  were  quite  as  evidently  made  from  the  hides  of 
rodents. 

Tarzan  noted  the  utter  unconcern  with  which  the 
man  approached  the  lions,  and  the  equal  indifference 
of  Numa  to  him.  The  fellow  paused  for  a  moment 
as  though  appraising  the  ape-man  and  then  pushed 
on  past  the  lions,  brushing  against  the  tawny  hide 
as  he  passed  him  in  the  trail. 

About  twenty  feet  from  Tarzan  the  man  stopped, 
addressing  the  former  in  a  strange  jargon,  no 
syllable  of  which  was  intelligible  to  the  Tarmangani. 
His  gestures  indicated  numerous  references  to  the 
lions  surrounding  them  and  once  he  touched  his  spear 
with  the  forefinger  of  his  left  hand  and  twice  he 
struck  the  saber  at  his  hip. 

While  he  spoke  Tarzan  studied  the  fellow  closely 
with  the  result  that  there  fastened  itself  upon  his 
mind  a  strange  conviction  —  that  the  man  who  ad 
dressed  him  was  what  might  only  be  described  as  a 
rational  maniac.  As  the  thought  came  to  the  ape- 
man  he  could  not  but  smile,  so  paradoxical  the 
description  seemed.  Yet  a  closer  study  of  the  man's 
features,  carriage,  and  the  contour  of  his  head  car- 


296  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ried  almost  incontrovertibly  the  assurance  that  he 
was  insane,  while  the  tones  of  his  voice  and  his  ges 
tures  Tesembled  those  of  a  sane  and  intelligent 
mortal. 

Presently  the  man  had  concluded  his  speech  and 
appeared  to  be  waiting  questioningly  Tarzan's  reply. 
The  ape-man  spoke  to  the  other  first  in  the  language 
of  the  great  apes,  but  he  soon  saw  that  the  words 
carried  no  conviction  to  his  listener.  Then  with 
equal  futility  he  tried  several  native  dialects  but  to 
none  of  these  did  the  man  respond. 

By  this  time  Tarzan  began  to  lose  patience.  He 
had  wasted  sufficient  time  by  the  road,  and  as  he  had 
never  depended  much  upon  speech  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  his  ends,  he  now  raised  his  spear  and  ad 
vanced  toward  the  other.  This,  evidently,  was  a 
language  common  to  both,  for  instantly  the  fellow 
raised  his  own  weapon  and  at  the  same  time  a  low 
call  broke  from  his  lips,  a  call  which  instantly 
brought  to  action  every  lion  in  the  hitherto  silent 
circle.  A  volley  of  roars  shattered  the  silence  of 
the  forest  and  simultaneously  lions  sprang  into  view 
upon  all  sides  as  they  closed  in  rapidly  upon  their 
quarry.  The  man  who  had  called  them  stepped 
back,  his  teeth  bared  in  a  mirthless  grin. 

It  was  then  that  Tarzan  first  noticed  that  the  fel 
low's  upper  canines  were  unusually  long  and  exceed 
ingly  sharp.  It  was  just  a  flashing  glimpse  he  got 
of  them  as  he  leaped  agilely  from  the  ground  and, 
to  the  consternation  of  both  the  lions  and  their  mas 
ter,  disappeared  in  the  foliage  of  the  lower  terrace, 


THE  WALLED  CITY  297 

flinging  back  over  his  shoulder  as  he  swung  rapidly 
away :  "  I  am  Tarzan  of  the  Apes ;  mighty  hunter ; 
mighty  fighter!  None  in  the  jungle  more  powerful, 
none  more  cunning  than  Tarzan!" 

A  short  distance  beyond  the  point  at  which  they 
had  surrounded  him,  Tarzan  came  to  the  trail  again 
and  sought  for  the  spoor  of  Bertha  Kircher  and 
Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick.  He  found  them  quickly 
and  continued  upon  his  search  for  the  two.  The 
spoor  lay  directly  along  the  trail  for  another  half- 
mile  when  the  way  suddenly  debouched  from  the 
forest  into  open  land  and  there  broke  upon  the 
astonished  view  of  the  ape-man  the  domes  and  mina 
rets  of  a  walled  city. 

Directly  before  him  in  the  wall  nearest  him  Tar 
zan  saw  a  low-arched  gateway  to  which  a  well-beaten 
trail  led  from  that  which  he  had  been  following.  In 
the  open  space  between  the  forest  and  the  city  walls 
quantities  of  garden  stuff  was  growing  while  before 
him  at  his  feet,  in  an  open  man-made  ditch,  ran  a 
stream  of  water !  The  plants  in  the  garden  were  laid 
out  in  well-spaced,  symmetrical  rows  and  appeared 
to  have  been  given  excellent  attention  and  cultiva 
tion.  Tiny  streams  were  trickling  between  the  rows 
from  the  main  ditch  before  him  and  at  some  distance 
to  his  right  he  could  see  people  at  work  among 
the  plants. 

The  city  wall  appeared  to  be  about  thirty  feet 
in  height,  its  plastered  expanse  unbroken  except  by 
occasional  embrasures.  Beyond  the  wall  rose  the 
domes  of  several  structures  and  numerous  minarets 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


dotted  the  sky  line  of  the  city.  The  largest  and 
central  dome  appeared  to  be  gilded,  while  others  were 
red,  or  blue,  or  yellow.  The  architecture  of  the 
wall  itself  was  of  uncompromising  simplicity.  It 
was  of  a  cream  shade  and  appeared  to  be  plastered 
and  painted.  At  its  base  was  a  line  of  well-tended 
shrubs  and  at  some  distance  towards  its  eastern 
extremity  it  was  vine  covered  to  the  top. 

As  he  stood  in  the  shadow  of  the  trail,  his  keen 
eyes  taking  in  every  detail  of  the  picture  before  him, 
he  became  aware  of  the  approach  of  a  party  in  his 
rear  and  there  was  borne  to  him  the  scent  of  the 
man  and  the  lions  whom  he  had  so  readily  escaped. 
Taking  to  the  trees  Tarzan  moved  a  short  distance 
to  the  west  and,  finding  a  comfortable  crotch  at  the 
edge  of  the  forest  where  he  could  watch  the  trail 
leading  through  the  gardens  to  the  city  gate,  he 
awaited  the  return  of  his  would-be  captors.  And 
soon  they  came  —  the  strange  man  followed  by  the 
pack  of  great  lions.  Like  dogs  they  moved  along 
behind  him  down  the  trail  among  the  gardens  to 
the  gate. 

Here  the  man  struck  upon  the  panels  of  the  door 
with  the  butt  of  his  spear,  and  when  it  opened  in 
response  to  his  signal  he  passed  in  with  his  lions. 
Beyond  the  open  door  Tarzan,  from  his  distant 
perch,  caught  but  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  life  within 
the  city,  just  enough  to  indicate  that  there  were 
other  human  creatures  who  abode  there,  and  then  the 
door  closed. 

Through  that  door  he  knew  that  the  girl  and  the 


THE  WALLED  CITY  299 

man  whom  he  sought  to  succor  had  been  taken  into 
the  city.  What  fate  lay  in  store  for  them  or  whether 
already  it  had  been  meted  out  to  them  he  could  not 
even  guess,  nor  where,  within  that  forbidding  wall, 
they  were  incarcerated  he  could  not  know.  But  of 
one  thing  he  was  assured :  that  if  he  were  to  aid  them 
he  could  not  do  it  from  outside  the  wall.  He  must 
gain  entrance  to  the  city  first  nor  did  he  doubt,  that 
once  within,  his  keen  senses  would  eventually  reveal 
the  whereabouts  of  those  whom  he  sought. 

The  low  sun  was  casting  long  shadows  across  the 
gardens  when  Tarzan  saw  the  workers  returning 
from  the  eastern  field.  A  man  came  first,  and  as  he 
came  he  lowered  little  gates  along  the  large  ditch 
of  running  water,  shutting  off  the  streams  that  had 
run  between  the  rows  of  growing  plants ;  and  behind 
him  came  other  men  carrying  burdens  of  fresh  vege 
tables  in  great  woven  baskets  upon  their  shoulders. 
Tarzan  had  not  realized  that  there  had  been  so  many 
men  working  in  the  field,  but  now  as  he  sat  there  at 
the  close  of  the  day  he  saw  a  procession  filing  in 
from  the  east,  bearing  the  tools  and  the  produce 
back  into  the  city. 

And  then,  to  gain  a  better  view,  the  ape-man 
ascended  to  the  topmost  branches  of  a  tall  tree  where 
he  overlooked  the  nearer  wall.  From  this  point  of 
vantage  he  saw  that  the  city  was  long  and  narrow, 
and  that  while  the  outer  walls  formed  a  perfect 
rectangle,  the  streets  within  were  winding.  Toward 
the  center  of  the  city  there  appeared  to  be  a  low, 
white  building  around  which  the  larger  edifices  of 


300  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  city  had  been  built,  and  here,  in  the  fast-waning 
light,  Tarzan  thought  that  'between  two  buildings  he 
caught  the  glint  of  water,  but  of  that  he  was  not 
sure.  His  experience  of  the  centers  of  civilization 
naturally  inclined  him  to  believe  that  this  central 
area  was  a  plaza  about  which  the  larger  buildings 
were  grouped  and  that  there  would  be  the  most  logi 
cal  place  to  search  first  for  Bertha  Kircher  and  her 
companion. 

And  then  the  sun  went  down  and  darkness  quickly 
enveloped  the  city  —  a  darkness  that  was  accentu 
ated  for  the  ape-man  rather  than  relieved  by  the 
artificial  lights  which  immediately  appeared  in  many 
of  the  windows  visible  to  him. 

Tarzan  had  noticed  that  the  roofs  of  most  of  the 
buildings  were  flat,  the  few  exceptions  being  those 
of  what  he  imagined  to  be  the  more  pretentious 
public  structures.  How  this  city  had  come  to  exist 
in  this  forgotten  part  of  unexplored  Africa  the  ape- 
man  could  not  conceive.  Better  than  another  he 
realized  something  of  the  unsolved  secrets  of  the 
Great  Dark  Continent,  enormous  areas  of  which  have 
as  yet  been  untouched  by  the  foot  of  civilized  man. 
Yet  he  could  scarce  believe  that  a  city  of  this  size 
and  apparently  thus  well  constructed  could  have 
existed  for  the  generations  that  it  must  have  been 
there,  without  intercourse  with  the  outer  world. 
Even  though  it  was  surrounded  by  a  trackless  desert 
waste,  as  he  knew  it  to  be,  he  could  not  conceive  that 
generation  after  generation  of  men  could  be  born  and 
die  there  without  attempting  to  solve  the  mysteries 


THE  WALLED  CITY  301 

of  the  world  beyond  the  confines  of  their  little  valley. 

And  yet,  here  was  the  city  surrounded  by  tilled 
land  and  filled  with  people! 

With  the  coming  of  night  there  arose  throughout 
the  jungle  the  cries  of  the  great  cats,  the  voice  of 
Numa  blended  with  that  of  Sheeta,  and  the  thunder 
ous  roars  of  the  great  males  reverberated  through 
the  forest  until  the  earth  trembled,  and  from  within 
the  city  came  the  answering  roars  of  other  lions. 

A  simple  plan  for  gaming  entrance  to  the  city  had 
occurred  to  Tarzan,  and  now  that  darkness  had 
fallen  he  set  about  to  put  it  into  effect.  Its  success 
hinged  entirely  upon  the  strength  of  the  vines  he 
had  seen  surmounting  the  wall  toward  the  east.  In 
this  direction  he  made  his  way,  while  from  out  of  the 
forest  about  him  the  cries  of  the  flesh-eaters  in 
creased  in  volume  and  ferocity.  A  quarter  of  a  mile 
intervened  between  the  forest  and  the  city  wall  —  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  cultivated  land  unrelieved  by 
a  single  tree.  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  realized  his  limita 
tions  and  so  he  knew  that  it  would  undoubtedly 
spell  death  for  him  to  be  caught  in  the  open  space 
by  one  of  the  great  black  lions  of  the  forest  if,  as 
he  had  already  surmised,  Numa  of  the  pit  was  a 
specimen  of  the  forest  lion  of  the  valley. 

He  must,  therefore,  depend  entirely  upon  his  cun 
ning  and  his  speed,  and  upon  the  chance  that  the 
vine  would  sustain  his  weight. 

He  moved  through  the  middle  terrace,  where  the 
way  is  always  easiest,  until  he  reached  a  point  oppo 
site  the  vine-clad  portion  of  the  wall,  and  there  he 


302  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

waited,  listening  and  scenting,  until  he  might  assure 
himself  that  there  was  no  Numa  within  his  immediate 
vicinity,  or,  at  least,  none  that  sought  him.  And 
when  he  was  quite  sure  that  there  was  no  lion  close 
by  in  the  forest,  and  none  in  the  clearing  between 
himself  and  the  wall,  he  dropped  lightly  to  the 
ground  and  moved1  stealthily  out  into  the  open. 

The  rising  moon,  just  topping  the  eastern  cliffs, 
cast  its  bright  rays  upon  the  long  stretch  of  open 
garden  beneath  the  wall.  And,  too,  it  picked  out  in 
clear  relief  for  any  curious  eyes  that  chanced  to  be 
cast  in  that  direction,  the  figure  of  the  giant  ape-man 
moving  across  the  clearing.  It  was  only  chance,  of 
course,  that  a  great  lion  hunting  at  the  edge  of  the 
forest  saw  the  figure  of  the  man  halfway  between  the 
forest  and  the  wall.  Suddenly  there  broke  upon 
Tarzan's  ears  a  menacing  sound.  It  was  not  the  roar 
of  a  hungry  lion,  but  the  roar  of  a  lion  in  rage, 
and,  as  he  glanced  back  in  the  direction  from  which 
the  sound  came,  he  saw  a  huge  beast  moving  out  from 
the  shadow  of  the  forest  toward  him. 

Even  in  the  moonlight  and  at  a  distance  Tarzan 
saw  that  the  lion  was  huge;  that  it  was  indeed 
another  of  the  black-maned  monsters  similar  to 
Numa  of  the  pit.  For  an  instant  he  was  impelled 
to  turn  and  fight,  but  at  the  same  time  the  thought 
of  the  helpless  girl  imprisoned  in  the  city  flashed 
through  his  brain  and,  without  an  instant's  hesita 
tion,  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  wheeled  and  ran  for  the 
wall.  Then  it  was  that  Numa  charged. 

Numa,  the  lion,  can  run  swiftly  for  a  short  dis- 


THE  WALLED  CITY  303 

tance,  but  he  lacks  endurance.  For  the  period  of 
an  ordinary  charge  he  can  cover  the  ground  with 
greater  rapidity  possibly  than  any  other  creature 
in  the  world.  Tarzan,  on  the  other  hand,  could 
run  at  great  speed  for  long  distances,  though  never 
as  rapidly  as  Numa  when  the  latter  charged. 

The  question  of  his  fate,  then,  rested  upon 
whether,  with  his  start,  he  could  elude  Numa  for  a 
few  seconds ;  and  if  so,  if  the  lion  would  then  have 
sufficient  stamina  remaining  to  pursue  him  at  a  re 
duced  gait  for  the  balance  of  the  distance  to  the 
wall. 

Never  before,  perhaps,  was  staged  a  more  thrill 
ing  race,  and  yet,  it  was  run  with  only  the  moon 
and  stars  to  see.  Alone  and  in  silence  the  two  beasts 
sped  across  the  moonlit  clearing.  Numa  gained 
with  appalling  rapidity  upon  the  fleeing  man,  yet  at 
every  bound  Tarzan  was  nearer  to  the  vine-clad  wall. 
Once  the  ape-man  glanced  back.  Numa  was  so  close 
upon  him  that  it  seemed  inevitable  that  at  the  next 
bound  he  should  drag  him  down ;  so  close  was  he  that 
the  ape-man  drew  his  knife  as  he  ran,  that  he  might 
at  least  give  a  good  account  of  himself  in  the  last 
moments  of  his  life. 

But  Numa  had  reached  the  limit  of  his  speed  and 
endurance.  Gradually  he  dropped  behind  but  he  did 
not  give  up  the  pursuit,  and  now  Tarzan  realized 
how  much  hinged  upon  the  strength  of  the  untested 
vines. 

If,  at  the  inception  of  the  race,  only  Goro  and 
the  stars  had  looked  down  upon  the  contestants, 


304  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

such  was  not  the  case  at  its  finish,  since  from  an 
embrasure  near  the  summit  of  the  wall  two  close-set 
black  eyes  peered  down  upon  the  two.  Tarzan  was 
a  dozen  yards  ahead  of  Numa  when  he  reached  the 
wall.  There  was  no  time  to  stop  and  institute  a 
search  for  sturdy  stems  and  safe  handholds.  His 
fate  was  in  the  hands  of  chance  and  with  the  realiza 
tion  he  gave  a  final  spurt  and  running  catlike  up 
the  side  of  the  wall  among  the  vines,  sought  with 
his  hands  for  something  that  would  sustain  his 
weight.  Below  him  Numa  leaped  also. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

AMONG  THE   MANIACS 

S  THE  lions  swarmed  over  her  protectors, 
Bertha  Kircher  shrank  back  in  the  cave  in  a 
momentary  paralysis  of  fright  superinduced,  per 
haps,  by  the  long  days  of  terrific  nerve  strain  which 
she  had  undergone. 

Mingled  with  the  roars  of  the  lions  had  been  the 
voices  of  men,  and  presently  out  of  the  confusion 
and  turmoil  she  felt  the  near  presence  of  a  human 
being,  and  then  hands  reached  forth  and  seized 
her.  It  was  dark  and  she  could  see  but  little,  nor 
any  sign  of  the  English  officer  or  the  ape-man.  The 
man  who  seized  her  kept  the  lions  from  her  with  what 
appeared  to  be  a  stout  spear,  the  haft  of  which  he 
used  to  beat  off  the  beasts.  The  fellow  dragged 
her  from  the  cavern  the  while  he  shouted  what 
appeared  to  be  commands  and  warnings  to  the  lions. 

Once  out  upon  the  light  sands  of  the  bottom  of 
the  gorge  objects  became  more  distinguishable,  and 
then  she  saw  that  there  were  other  men  in  the  party 
and  that  two  half  led  and  half  carried  the  stumbling 
figure  of  a  third,  whom  she  guessed  must  be  Smith- 
Oldwick. 

For  a   time   the   lions   made   frenzied   efforts    to 

305 


806  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

reach  the  two  captives  but  always  the  men  with 
them  succeeded  in  beating  them  off.  The  fellows 
seemed  utterly  unafraid  of  the  great  beasts  leaping 
and  snarling  about  them,  handling  them  much  the 
same  as  one  might  handle  a  pack  of  obstreperous 
dogs.  Along  the  bed  of  the  old  watercourse  that 
once  ran  through  the  gorge  they  made  their  way, 
and  as  the  first  faint  lightening  of  the  eastern  hori 
zon  presaged  the  coming  dawn,  they  paused  for  a 
moment  upon  the  edge  of  a  declivity,  which  appeared 
to  the  girl  in  the  strange  light  of  the  waning  night 
as  a  vast  bottomless  pit ;  but  as  their  captors 
resumed  their  way  and  the  light  of  the  new  day 
became  stronger,  she  saw  that  they  were  moving 
downward  toward  a  dense  forest. 

Once  beneath  the  over-arching  trees  all  was  again 
Cimmerian  darkness,  nor  was  the  gloom  relieved 
until  the  sun  finally  arose  beyond  the  eastern  cliffs, 
when  she  saw  that  they  were  following  what  appeared 
to  be  a  broad  and  well-beaten  game  trail  through  a 
forest  of  great  trees.  The  ground  was  unusually 
dry  for  an  African  forest  and  the  underbrush,  while 
heavily  foliaged,  was  not  nearly  so  rank  and  impene 
trable  as  that  which  she  had  been  accustomed  to  find 
in  similar  woods.  It  was  as  though  the  trees  and 
the  bushes  grew  in  a  waterless  country,  nor  was 
there  the  musty  odor  of  decaying  vegetation  or  the 
myriads  of  tiny  insects  such  as  are  bred  in  damp 
places. 

As  they  proceeded  and  the  sun  rose  higher,  the 
voices  of  the  arboreal  jungle  life  rose  in  discordant 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  307 

notes  and  loud  chattering  about  them.  Innumerable 
monkeys  scolded  and  screamed  in  the  branches  over 
head  while  harsh-voiced  birds  of  brilliant  plumage 
darted  hither  and  thither.  She  noticed  presently 
that  their  captors  often  cast  apprehensive  glances 
in  the  direction  of  the  birds  and  on  numerous  occa 
sions  seemed  to  be  addressing  the  winged  denizens 
of  the  forest. 

One  incident  made  a  marked  impression  on  her. 
The  man  who  immediately  preceded  her  was  a  fellow 
of  powerful  build  yet,  when  a  brilliantly  colored  par 
rot  swooped  downward  toward  him  he  dropped  upon 
his  knees  and  covering  his  face  with  his  arms  bent 
forward  until  his  head  touched  the  ground.  Some 
of  the  others  looked  at  him  and  laughed  nervously. 
Presently  the  man  glanced  upward  and  seeing  that 
the  bird  had  gone,  rose  to  his  feet  and  continued 
along  the  trail. 

It  was  at  this  brief  halt  that  Smith-Oldwick  was 
brought  to  her  side  by  the  men  who  had  been  sup 
porting  him.  He  had  been  rather  badly  mauled 
by  one  of  the  lions ;  but  was  now  able  to  walk  alone, 
though  he  was  extremely  weak  from  shock  and  loss 
of  blood. 

"Pretty  mess,  what?"  he  remarked  with  a  wry 
smile,  indicating  his  bloody  and  disheveled  state. 

"It  is  terrible,"  said  the  girl.  "I  hope  you  are 
not  suffering." 

"  Not  as  much  as  I  should  have  expected,"  he  re 
plied,  "but  I  feel  as  weak  as  a  fool.  What  sort 
of  creatures  are  these  beggars,  anyway?" 


308  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"I  don't  know,"  she  replied,  "there  is  something 
terribly  uncanny  about  their  appearance." 

The  man  regarded  one  of  their  captors  closely  for 
a  moment  and  then,  turning  to  the  girl  asked,  "Did 
you  ever  visit  a  madhouse?" 

She  looked  up  at  him  in  quick  understanding 
and  with  a  horrified  expression  in  her  eyes.  "  That's 
it!"  she  cried. 

"They  have  all  the  ear-marks,"  he  said.  "Whites 
of  the  eyes  showing  all  around  the  irises,  hair  grow 
ing  stiffly  erect  from  the  scalp  and  low  down  upon 
the  forehead  —  even  their  mannerisms  and  their  car 
riage  are  those  of  maniacs." 

The  girl  shuddered. 

"Another  thing  about  them,"  continued  the  Eng 
lishman,  "that  doesn't  appear  normal  is  that  they 
are  afraid  of  parrots  and  utterly  fearless  of  lions." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  girl ;  "  and  did  you  notice  that 
the  birds  seem  utterly  fearless  of  them  —  really  seem 
to  hold  them  in  contempt?  Have  you  any  idea  what 
language  they  speak?" 

"  No,"  said  the  man,  "  I  have  been  trying  to  figure 
that  out.  It's  not  like  any  of  the  few  native  dialects 
of  which  I  have  any  knowledge." 

"  It  doesn't  sound  at  all  like  the  native  language," 
said  the  girl,  "  but  there  is  something  familiar  about 
it.  You  know,  every  now  and  then  I  feel  that  I  am 
just  on  the  verge  of  understanding  what  they  are 
saying,  or  at  least  that  somewhere  I  have  heard  their 
tongue  before,  but  final  recognition  always  eludes 
me." 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  309 

"I  doubt  if  you  ever  heard  their  language 
spoken,"  said  the  man.  "These  people  must  have 
lived  in  this  out-of-the-way  valley  for  ages  and 
even  if  they  had  retained  the  original  language  of 
their  ancestors  without  change,  which  is  doubtful, 
it  must  be  some  tongue  that  is  no  longer  spoken  in 
the  outer  world." 

At  one  point  where  a  stream  of  water  crossed  the 
trail  the  party  halted  while  the  lions  and  the  men 
drank.  They  motioned  to  their  captives  to  drink 
too,  and  as  Bertha  Kircher  and  Smith-Oldwick,  lying 
prone  upon  the  ground  drank  from  the  clear,  cool 
water  of  the  rivulet,  they  were  suddenly  startled  by 
the  thunderous  roar  of  a  lion  a  short  distance  ahead 
of  them.  Instantly  the  lions  with  them  set  up  a 
hideous  response,  moving  restlessly  to  and  fro  with 
their  eyes  always  either  turned  in  the  direction  from 
which  the  roar  had  come  or  toward  their  masters, 
against  whom  the  tawny  beasts  slunk.  The  men 
loosened  the  sabers  in  their  scabbards,  the  weapons 
that  had  aroused  Smith-Oldwick's  curiosity  as  they 
had  Tarzan's,  and  grasped  their  spears  more  firmly. 

Evidently  there  were  lions  and  lions,  and  while 
they  evinced  no  fear  of  the  beasts  which  accompanied 
them,  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  voice  of  the 
newcomer  had  an  entirely  different  effect  upon  them, 
although  the  men  seemed  less  terrified  than  the  lions. 
Neither  however,  showed  any  indication  of  an  in 
clination  to  flee;  on  the  contrary  the  entire  party 
advanced  along  the  trail  in  the  direction  of  the 
menacing  roars,  and  presently  there  appeared  in 


810  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  center  of  the  path  a  black  lion  of  gigantic  pro 
portions.  To  Smith-Oldwick  and  the  girl  he  ap 
peared  to  be  the  same  lion  that  they  had  encoun 
tered  at  the  plane  and  from  which  Tarzan  had 
rescued  them.  But  it  was  not  Numa  of  the  pit, 
although  he  resembled  him  closely. 

The  black  beast  stood  directly  in  the  center  of 
the  trail  lashing  his  tail  and  growling  menacingly  at 
the  advancing  party.  The  men  urged  on  their  own 
beasts,  who  growled  and  whined  but  hesitated  to 
charge.  Evidently  becoming  impatient,  and  in  full 
consciousness  of  his  might  the  intruder  raised  his 
tail  stiffly  erect  and  shot  forward.  Several  of  the 
defending  lions  made  a  half-hearted  attempt  to  ob 
struct  his  passage,  but  they  might  as  well  have 
placed  themselves  in  the  path  of  an  express  train, 
as  hurling  them  aside  the  great  beast  leaped  straight 
for  one  of  the  men.  A  dozen  spears  were  launched 
at  him  and  a  dozen  sabers  leaped  from  their  scab 
bards;  gleaming,  razor-edged  weapons  they  were, 
but  for  the  instant  rerdered  futile  by  the  terrific 
speed  of  the  charging  beast. 

Two  of  the  spears  entering  his  body  but  served 
to  further  enrage  him  as,  with  demoniacal  roars,  he 
sprang  upon  the  hapless  man  he  had  singled  out  for 
his  prey.  Scarcely  pausing  in  his  charge  he  seized 
the  fellow  by  the  shoulder  and,  turning  quickly  at 
right  angles,  leaped  into  the  concealing  foliage  that 
flanked  the  trail,  and  was  gone  bearing  his  victim 
with  him. 

So  quickly  had  the  whole  occurrence  transpired 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  311 

that  the  formation  of  the  little  party  was  scarcely 
altered.  There  had  been  no  opportunity  for  flight, 
even  if  it  had  been  contemplated;  and  now  that  the 
lion  was  gone  with  his  prey  the  men  made  no  move 
to  pursue  him.  They  paused  only  long  enough  to 
recall  the  two  or  three  of  their  lions  that  had  scat 
tered  and  then  resumed  the  march  along  the  trail. 

"Might  be  an  everyday  occurrence  from  all  the 
effect  it  has  on  them,"  remarked  Smith-Oldwick  to 
the  girl. 

"Yes,"  she  said.  "They  seem  to  be  neither  sur 
prised  nor  disconcerted,  and  evidently  they  are  quite 
sure  that  the  lion,  having  got  what  he  came  for, 
will  not  molest  them  further." 

"I  had  thought,"  said  the  Englishman,  "that 
the  lions  of  the  Wamabo  country  were  about  the 
most  ferocious  in  existence,  but  they  are  regular 
tabby  cats  by  comparison  with  these  big  black 
fellows.  Did  you  ever  see  anything  more  utterly 
fearless  or  more  terribly  irresistible  than  that 
charge?" 

For  a  while  as  they  walked  side  by  side,  their 
thoughts  and  conversation  centered  upon  this  latest 
experience,  until  the  trail  emerging  from  the  forest 
opened  to  their  view  a  walled  city  and  an  area  of 
cultivated  land.  Neither  could  suppress  an  ex 
clamation  of  surprise. 

"Why,  that  wall  is  a  regular  engineering  job," 
exclaimed  Smith-Oldwick. 

"And  look  at  the  domes  and  minarets  of  the  city 
beyond,"  cried  the  girl.  "  There  must  be  a  civilized 


312  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

people  beyond  that  wall.  Possibly  we  are  fortunate 
to  have  fallen  into  their  hands." 

Smith-Oldwick  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I  hope 
so,"  he  said,  "though  I  am  not  at  all  sure  about 
people  who  travel  about  with  lions  and  are  afraid  of 
parrots.  There  must  be  something  wrong  with 
them." 

The  party  followed  the  trail  across  the  field  to 
an  arched  gateway  which  opened  at  the  summons  of 
one  of  their  captors  who  beat  upon  the  heavy  wooden 
panels  with  his  spear.  Beyond,  the  gate  opened 
into  a  narrow  street  which  seemed  but  a  continuation 
of  the  jungle  trail  leading  from  the  forest.  Build 
ings  on  either  hand  adjoined  the  wall  and  fronted 
the  narrow,  winding  street  which  was  only  visible 
for  a  short  distance  ahead.  The  houses  were  prac 
tically  all  two-storied  structures,  the  upper  stories 
flush  with  the  street  while  the  walls  of  the  first  story 
were  set  back  some  ten  feet,  a  series  of  simple  col 
umns  and  arches  supporting  the  front  of  the  second 
story  and  forming  an  arcade  on  either  side  of  the 
narrow  thoroughfare. 

The  pathway  in  the  center  of  the  street  was 
unpaved,  but  the  floor  of  the  arcades  were  cut  stone 
of  various  shapes  and  sizes  but  all  carefully  fitted 
and  laid  without  mortar.  These  floors  gave  evidence 
of  great  antiquity,  there  being  a  distinct  depression 
down  the  center  as  though  the  stone  had  been  worn 
away  by  the  passage  of  countless  sandaled  feet 
during  the  ages  that  it  had  lain  there. 

There  were  few  people  astir  at  this  early  hour, 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  313 

and  these  were  of  the  same  type  as  their  captors. 
At  first  those  whom  they  saw  were  only  men,  but 
as  they  went  deeper  into  the  city  they  came  upon 
a  few  naked  children  playing  in  the  soft  dust  of  the 
roadway.  Many  they  passed  showed  the  greatest 
surprise  and  curiosity  in  the  prisoners,  and  often 
made  inquiries  of  the  guards,  which  the  two  assumed 
must  have  been  in  relation  to  themselves,  while  others 
appeared  not  to  notice  them  at  all. 

"  I  wish  we  could  understand  their  bally  lan 
guage,"  exclaimed  Smith-Oldwick. 

"Yes,"  said  the  girl,  "I  would  like  to  ask  them 
what  they  are  going  to  do  with  us." 

"  That  would  be  interesting,"  said  the  man.  "  I 
have  been  doing  considerable  wondering  along  that 
line  myself." 

"  I  don't  like  the  way  their  canine  teeth  are  filed," 
said  the  girl.  "  It's  too  suggestive  of  some  of  the 
cannibals  I  have  seen." 

"You  don't  really  believe  they  are  cannibals,  do 
you?"  asked  the  man.  "You  don't  think  white 
people  are  ever  cannibals,  do  you?" 

"Are  these  people  white?"  asked  the  girl. 

"They're  not  Negroes,  that's  certain,"  rejoined 
the  man.  "Their  skin  is  yellow,  but  yet  it  doesn't 
resemble  the  Chinese  exactly,  nor  are  any  of  their 
features  Chinese." 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  they  caught  their 
first  glimpse  of  a  native  woman.  She  was  similar 
in  most  respects  to  the  men  though  her  stature 
was  smaller  and  her  figure  more  symmetrical.  Her 


814  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

•^•••••••^•^•••••^•••••••iii.iii^i  •  i  ••^•^^^^•••ii  11 i  1.1  ii  .•••••^••••••••^•••^•By-^i 

face  was  more  repulsive  than  that  of  the  men,  pos 
sibly  because  of  the  fact  that  she  was  a  woman, 
which  rather  accentuated  the  idiosyncrasies  of  eyes, 
pendulous  lip,  pointed  tusks  and  stiff,  low-growing 
hair.  The  latter  was  longer  than  that  of  the  men 
and  much  heavier.  It  hung  about  her  shoulders  and 
was  confined  by  a  colored  bit  of  some  lacy  fabric. 
Her  single  garment  appeared  to  be  nothing  more 
than  a  filmy  scarf  which  was  wound  tightly  around 
her  body  from  below  her  naked  breasts,  being  caught 
up  some  way  at  the  bottom  near  her  ankles.  Bits 
of  shiny  metal  resembling  gold,  ornamented  both  the 
headdress  and  the  skirt.  Otherwise  the  woman  was 
entirely  without  jewelry.  Her  bare  arms  were  slen 
der  and  shapely  and  her  hands  and  feet  well  propor 
tioned  and  symmetrical. 

She  came  close  to  the  party  as  they  passed  her, 
jabbering  to  the  guards  who  paid  no  attention  to 
her.  The  prisoners  had  an  opportunity  to  observe 
her  closely  as  she  followed  at  their  side  for  a  short 
distance. 

"  The  figure  of  a  houri,"  remarked  Smith-Oldwick, 
"with  the  face  of  an  imbecile." 

The  street  they  followed  was  intersected  at 
irregular  intervals  by  crossroads  which,  as  they 
glanced  down  them,  proved  to  be  equally  as  tortuous 
as  that  through  which  they  were  being  conducted. 
The  houses  varied  but  little  in  design.  Occasionally 
there  were  bits  of  color,  or  some  attempt  at  other 
architectural  ornamentation.  Through  open  win 
dows  and  doors  they  could  see  that  the  walls  of  the 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS 


houses  were  very  thick  and  that  all  apertures  were 
quite  small  as  though  the  people  had  built  against 
extreme  heat,  which  they  realized  must  have  been 
necessary  in  this  valley  buried  deep  in  an  African 
desert. 

Ahead  they  occasionally  caught  glimpses  of  larger 
structures,  and  as  they  approached  them,  came  upon 
what  was  evidently  a  part  of  the  business  section  of 
the  city.  There  were  numerous  small  shops  and 
bazaars  interspersed  among  the  residences,  and  over 
the  doors  of  these  were  signs  painted  in  characters 
strongly  suggesting  Greek  origin  and  }^et  it  was  not 
Greek  as  both  the  Englishman  and  the  girl  knew. 

Smith-Oldwick  was  by  this  time  beginning  to  feel 
more  acutely  the  pain  of  his  wounds  and  the  conse 
quent  weakness  that  was  greatly  aggravated  by  loss 
of  blood.  He  staggered  now  occasionally  and  the 
girl,  seeing  his  plight,  offered  him  her  arm. 

"  No,"  he  expostulated,  "  you  have  passed  through 
too  much  yourself  to  have  any  extra  burden  imposed 
upon  you."  But  though  he  made  a  valiant  effort 
to  keep  up  with  their  captors  he  occasionally  lagged, 
and  upon  one  such  occasion  the  guards  for  the  first 
time  showed  any  disposition  toward  brutality. 

It  was  a  big  fellow  who  walked  at  Smith-Oldwick's 
left.  Several  times  he  took  hold  of  the  English 
man's  arm  and  pushed  him  forward  not  ungently, 
but  when  the  captive  lagged  again  and  again  the  fel 
low  suddenly,  and  certainly  with  no  just  provoca 
tion,  flew  into  a  perfect  frenzy  of  rage.  He  leaped 
upon  the  wounded  man,  striking  him  viciously  with 


316  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

his  fists  and,  bearing  him  to  the  ground,  grasped  his 
throat  in  his  left  hand  while  with  his  right  he  drew 
his  long  sharp  saber.  Screaming  terribly  he  waved 
the  blade  above  his  head. 

The  others  stopped  and  turned  to  look  upon  the 
encounter  with  no  particular  show  of  interest.  It 
was  as  though  one  of  the  party  had  paused  to  read 
just  a  sandal  and  the  others  merely  waited  until  he 
was  ready  to  march  on  again. 

But  if  their  captors  were  indifferent,  Bertha 
Kircher  was  not.  The  close-set  blazing  eyes,  the 
snarling  fanged  face,  and  the  frightful  screams  filled 
her  with  horror,  while  the  brutal  and  wanton  attack 
upon  the  wounded  man  aroused  within  her  the  spirit 
•of  protection  for  the  weak  that  is  inherent  in  all 
women.  Forgetful  of  everything  other  than  that  a 
weak  and  defenseless  man  was  being  brutally  mur 
dered  before  her  eyes,  the  girl  cast  aside  discretion 
and,  rushing  to  Smith-Oldwick's  assistance,  seized 
the  uplifted  sword  arm  of  the  shrieking  creature 
upon  the  prostrate  Englishman. 

Clinging  desperately  to  the  fellow  she  surged 
backward  with  all  her  weight  and  strength  with  the 
result  that  she  overbalanced  him  and  sent  him 
sprawling  to  the  pavement  upon  his  back.  In  his 
efforts  to  save  himself  he  relaxed  his  grasp  upon  the 
grip  of  his  saber  which  had  no  sooner  fallen  to  the 
ground  than  it  was  seized  upon  by  the  girl.  Stand 
ing  erect  beside  the  prostrate  form  of  the  English 
officer  Bertha  Kircher,  the  razor-edged  weapon 
grasped  firmly  in  her  hand,  faced  their  captors. 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  317 

She  was  a  brave  figure;  even  her  soiled  and  torn 
riding  togs  and  disheveled  hair  detracted  nothing 
from  her  appearance.  The  creature  she  had  felled 
scrambled  quickly  to  his  feet  and  in  the  instant  his 
whole  demeanor  changed.  From  demoniacal  rage  he 
became  suddenly  convulsed  with  hysterical  laughter 
although  it  was  a  question  in  the  girl's  mind  as  to 
which  was  the  more  terrifying.  His  companions 
stood  looking  on  with  vacuous  grins  upon  their 
countenances,  while  he  from  whom  the  girl  had 
wrested  the  weapon  leaped  up  and  down  shrieking 
with  laughter.  If  Bertha  Kircher  had  needed  further 
evidence  to  assure  her  that  they  were  in  the  hands 
of  a  mentally  deranged  people  the  man's  present 
actions  would  have  been  sufficient  to  convince  her. 
The  sudden  uncontrolled  rage  and  now  the  equally 
uncontrolled  and  mirthless  laughter  but  emphasized 
the  facial  attributes  of  idiocy. 

Suddenly  realizing  how  helpless  she  was  in  the 
event  any  one  of  the  men  should  seek  to  overpower 
her,  and  moved  by  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling 
that  brought  on  almost  a  nausea  of  disgust,  the 
girl  hurled  the  weapon  upon  the  ground  at  the  feet 
of  the  laughing  maniac  and  turning,  kneeled  beside 
the  Englishman. 

"It  was  wonderful  of  you,"  he  said,  "but  you 
shouldn't  have  done  it.  Don't  antagonize  them: 
I  believe  that  they  are  all  mad  and  you  know  they 
say  that  one  should  always  humor  a  madman." 

She  shook  her  head.  "I  couldn't  see  him  kill 
you,"  she  said. 


318  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

A  sudden  light  sprang  to  the  man's  eyes  as  he 
reached  out  a  hand  and  grasped  the  girl's  fingers. 
"  Do  you  care  a  little  now?  "  he  asked.  "  Can't  you 
tell  me  that  you  do  —  just  a  bit?" 

She  did  not  withdraw  her  hand  from  his  but  she 
shook  her  head  sadly.  "Please  don't,"  she  said. 
"  I  am  sorry  that  I  can  only  like  you  very  much." 

The  light  died  from  his  eyes  and  his  fingers  relaxed 
their  grasp  on  hers.  "Please  forgive  me,"  he  mur 
mured.  "I  intended  waiting  until  we  got  out  of  this 
mess  and  you  were  safe  among  your  own  people. 
It  must  have  been  the  shock  or  something  like  that, 
and  seeing  you  defending  me  as  you  did.  Anyway, 
I  couldn't  help  it  and  really  it  doesn't  make  much 
difference  what  I  say  now,  does  it?" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  she  asked  quickly. 

He  shrugged  and  smiled  ruefully.  "  I  will  never 
leave  this  city  alive,"  he  said.  "  I  wouldn't  mention 
it  except  that  I  realize  that  you  must  know  it  as 
well  as  I.  I  was  pretty  badly  torn  up  by  the  lion 
and  this  fellow  here  has  about  finished  me.  There 
might  be  some  hope  if  we  were  among  civilized 
people,  but  here  with  these  frightful  creatures  what 
care  could  we  get  even  if  they  were  friendly  ?  " 

Bertha  Kircher  knew  that  he  spoke  the  truth,  and 
yet  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  an  admission  that 
Smith-Oldwick  would  die.  She  was  very  fond  of 
him,  in  fact  her  great  regret  was  that  she  did  not 
love  him,  but  she  knew  that  she  did  not. 

It  seemed  to  her  that  it  could  be  such  an  easy 
thing  for  any  girl  to  love  Lieutenant  Harold  Percy 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  319 

Smith-Oldwick  —  an  English  officer  and  a  gentleman, 
the  scion  of  an  old  family  and  himself  a  man  of 
ample  means,  young,  good-looking  and  affable. 
What  more  could  a  girl  ask  for  than  to  have  such 
a  man  love  her  and  that  she  possessed  Smith-Old- 
wick's  love  there  was  no  doubt  in  Bertha  Kircher's 
mind. 

She  sighed,  and  then,  laying  her  hand  impulsively 
on  his  forehead,  she  whispered,  "Do  not  give  up 
hope,  though.  Try  to  live  for  my  sake  and  for  your 
sake  I  will  try  to  love  you." 

It  was  as  though  new  life  had  suddenly  been  in 
jected  into  the  man's  veins.  His  face  lightened 
instantly  and  with  strength  that  he  himself  did  not 
know  he  possessed  he  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  albeit 
somewhat  unsteadily.  The  girl  helped  him  and  sup 
ported  him  after  he  had  arisen. 

For  the  moment  they  had  been  entirely  unconsci 
ous  of  their  surroundings  and  now  as  she  looked  at 
their  captors  she  saw  that  they  had  fallen  again 
into  their  almost  habitual  manner  of  stolid  indiffer 
ence,  and  at  a  gesture  from  one  of  them  the  march 
was  resumed  as  though  no  untoward  incident  had 
occurred. 

Bertha  Kircher  experienced  a  sudden  reaction 
from  the  momentary  exaltation  of  her  recent  promise 
to  the  Englishman.  She  knew  that  she  had  spoken 
more  for  him  than  for  herself  but  now  that  it  was 
over  she  realized,  as  she  had  realized  the  moment  be 
fore  she  had  spoken,  that  it  was  unlikely  she  would 
ever  care  for  him  the  way  he  wished.  But  what  had 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


she  promised?  Only  that  she  would  try  to  love  him. 
"And  now?"  she  asked  herself. 

She  realized  that  there  might  be  little  hope  of 
their  ever  returning  to  civilization.  Even  if  these 
people  should  prove  friendly  and  willing  to  let  them 
depart  in  peace,  how  were  they  to  find  their  way 
back  to  the  coast?  With  Tarzan  dead,  as  she  fully 
believed  him  after  having  seen  his  body  lying  lifeless 
at  the  mouth  of  the  cave  when  she  had  been  dragged 
forth  by  her  captor,  there  seemed  no  power  at  their 
command  which  could  guide  them  safely. 

The  two  had  scarcely  mentioned  the  ape-man  since 
their  capture,  for  each  realized  fully  what  his  loss 
meant  to  them.  They  had  compared  notes  relative 
to  those  few  exciting  moments  of  the  final  attack 
and  capture  and  had  found  that  they  agreed  per 
fectly  upon  all  that  had  occurred.  Smith-Oldwick 
had  even  seen  the  lion  leap  upon  Tarzan  at  the 
instant  that  the  former  was  awakened  by  the  roars 
of  the  charging  beasts,  and  though  the  night  had 
been  dark,  he  had  been  able  to  see  that  the  body  of 
the  savage  ape-man  had  never  moved  from  the 
instant  that  it  had  come  down  beneath  the  beast. 

And  so,  if  at  other  times  within  the  past  few 
weeks  Bertha  Kircher  had  felt  that  her  situation 
was  particularly  hopeless  she  was  now  ready  to 
admit  that  hope  was  absolutely  extinct. 

The  streets  were  beginning  to  fill  with  the  strange 
men  and  women  of  this  strange  city.  Some 
times  individuals  would  notice  them  and  seem  to  take 
a  great  interest  in  them,  and  again  others  would 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  321 

pass  with  vacant  stares,  seemingly  unconscious  of 
their  immediate  surroundings  and  paying  no  atten 
tion  whatsoever  to  the  prisoners.  Once  they  heard 
hideous  screams  up  a  side  street,  and  looking  they 
saw  a  man  in  the  throes  of  a  demoniacal  outburst 
of  rage,  similar  to  that  which  they  had  witnessed 
in  the  recent  attack  upon  Smith-Oldwick.  This 
creature  was  venting  his  insane  rage  upon  a  child 
which  he  repeatedly  struck  and  bit,  pausing  only 
long  enough  to  shriek  at  frequent  intervals.  Finally, 
just  before  they  passed  out  of  sight  the  creatur« 
raised  the  limp  body  of  the  child  high  above  his 
head  and  cast  it  down  with  all  his  strength  upon  the 
pavement,  and  then,  wheeling  and  screaming  madly 
at  the  top  of  his  lungs,  he  dashed  headlong  up  the 
winding  street. 

Two  women  and  several  men  had  stood  looking  on 
at  the  cruel  attack.  They  were  at  too  great  a 
distance  for  the  Europeans  to  know  whether  their 
facial  expressions  portrayed  pity  or  rage,  but  be 
that  as  it  may,  none  offered  to  interfere. 

A  few  yards  farther  on  a  hideous  hag  leaned  from 
a  second  story  window  where  she  laughed  and  jib- 
bered  and  made  horrid  grimaces  at  all  who  passed 
her.  Others  went  their  ways  apparently  attending 
to  whatever  duties  called  them,  as  soberly  as  the 
inhabitants  of  any  civilized  community. 

"God,"  muttered  Smith-Oldwick,  "what  an  awful 
place ! " 

The  girl  turned  suddenly  toward  him.  "  You 
still  have  your  pistol  ?  "  she  asked  him. 


822  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"  Yes,"  he  replied.  "  I  tucked  it  inside  my 
shirt.  They  did  not  search  me  and  it  was  too  dark 
for  them  to  see  whether  I  carried  any  weapons  or 
not.  So  I  hid  it  in  the  hope  that  I  might  get 
through  with  it." 

She  moved  closer  to  him  and  took  hold  of  his  hand. 
"  Save  one  cartridge  for  me,  please  ?  "  she  begged. 

Smith-Oldwick  looked  down  at  her  and  blinked  his 
eyes  very  rapidly.  An  unfamiliar  and  disconcerting 
moisture  had  come  into  them.  He  had  realized,  of 
course,  how  bad  a  plight  was  theirs  but  somehow 
it  had  seemed  to  affect  him  only :  it  did  not  seem  pos 
sible  that  anyone  could  harm  this  sweet  and  beautiful 
girl. 

And  that  she  should  have  to  be  destroyed — • 
destroyed  by  him !  It  was  too  hideous :  it  was  un 
believable,  unthinkable!  If  he  had  been  filled  with 
apprehension  before  he  was  doubly  perturbed  now. 

"  I  don't  believe  I  could  do  it,  Bertha,"  he  said. 

"Not  even  to  save  me  from  something  worse?" 
she  asked. 

He  shook  his  head  dismally.  "  I  could  never  do 
it,"  he  replied. 

The  street  that  they  were  following  suddenly 
opened  upon  a  wide  avenue,  and  before  them  spread 
a  broad  and  beautiful  lagoon,  the  quiet  surface  of 
which  mirrored  the  clear  cerulean  of  the  sky.  Here 
the  aspect  of  all  their  surroundings  changed.  The 
buildings  were  higher  and  much  more  pretentious  in 
•design  and  ornamentation.  The  street  itself  was 
paved  in  mosaics  of  barbaric  but  stunningly  beau- 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  323 

tiful  design.  In  the  ornamentation  of  the  buildings 
there  was  considerable  color  and  a  great  deal  of 
what  appeared  to  be  gold  leaf.  In  all  the  decora 
tions  there  was  utilized  in  various  ways  the  conven 
tional  figure  of  the  parrot,  and,  to  a  lesser  extent, 
that  of  the  lion  and  the  monkey. 

Their  captors  led  them  along  the  pavement  beside 
the  lagoon  for  a  short  distance  and  then  through 
an  arched  doorway  into  one  of  the  buildings  facing 
the  avenue.  Here,  directly  within  the  entrance  was 
a  large  room  furnished  with  massive  benches  and 
tables,  many  of  which  were  elaborately  hand  carved 
with  the  figures  of  the  inevitable  parrot,  the  lion, 
or  the  monkey ;  the  parrot  always  predominating. 

Behind  one  of  the  tables  sat  a  man  who  differed 
in  no  way  that  the  captives  could  discover,  from 
those  who  accompanied  them.  Before  this  person 
the  party  halted  and  one  of  the  men  who  had  brought 
them  made  what  seemed  to  be  an  oral  report. 
Whether  they  were  before  a  judge,  a  military  officer, 
or  a  civil  dignitary  they  could  not  know,  but  evi 
dently  he  was  a  man  of  authority  for,  after  listen 
ing  to  whatever  recital  was  being  made  to  him,  the 
while  he  closely  scrutinized  the  two  captives,  he 
made  a  single  futile  attempt  to  converse  with  them 
and  then  issued  some  curt  orders  to  him  who  had 
made  the  report. 

Almost  immediately  two  of  the  men  approached 
Bertha  Kircher  and  signaled  her  to  accompany  them. 
Smith-Oldwick  started  to  follow  her  but  was  inter 
cepted  by  one  of  their  guards.  The  girl  stopped 


324  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

then  and  turned  back,  at  the  same  time  looking  at 
the  man  at  the  table  and  making  signs  with  her 
hands,  indicating,  as  best  she  could,  that  she  wished 
Smith-Oldwick  to  remain  with  her,  but  the  fellow 
only  shook  his  head  negatively  and  motioned  to  the 
guards  to  remove  her.  The  Englishman  again 
attempted  to  follow  but  was  restrained.  He  was 
too  weak  and  helpless  even  to  make  an  attempt  to 
enforce  his  wishes.  He  thought  of  the  pistol  inside 
his  shirt  and  then  of  the  futility  of  attempting  to 
overcome  an  entire  city  with  the  few  rounds  of  am 
munition  left  to  him. 

So  far  with  the  single  exception  of  the  attack 
made  upon  him,  they  had  no  reason  to  believe  that 
they  might  not  receive  fair  treatment  from  their 
captors,  and  so  he  reasoned  that  it  might  be  wiser 
to  avoid  antagonizing  them  until  such  a  time  as  he 
became  thoroughly  convinced  that  their  intentions 
were  entirely  hostile.  He  saw  the  girl  led  from  the 
building  and  just  before  she  disappeared  from  his 
view  she  turned  and  waved  her  hand  to  him: 

"Good  luck!"  she  cried,  and  was  gone. 

The  lions  that  had  entered  the  building  with  the 
party  had,  during  their  examination  by  the  man  at 
the  table,  been  driven  from  the  apartment  through 
a  doorway  behind  him.  Toward  this  same  doorway 
two  of  the  men  now  led  Smith-Oldwick.  He  found 
himself  in  a  long  corridor  from  the  sides  of  which 
other  doorways  opened,  presumably  into  other 
apartments  of  the  building.  At  the  far  end  of  the 
corridor  he  saw  a  heavy  grating  beyond  which  ap- 


AMONG  THE  MANIACS  325 

peared  an  open  courtyard.  Into  this  courtyard  the 
prisoner  was  conducted  and  as  he  entered  it  with  the 
two  guards  he  found  himself  in  an  opening  which 
was  bounded  by  the  inner  walls  of  the  building.  It 
was  in  the  nature  of  a  garden  in  which  a  number 
of  trees  and  flowering  shrubs  grew.  Beneath  several 
of  the  trees  were  benches  and  there  was  a  bench 
along  the  south  wall,  but  what  aroused  his  most 
immediate  attention  was  the  fact  that  the  lions  who 
had  assisted  in  their  capture  and  who  had  accom 
panied  them  upon  the  return  to  the  city,  lay 
sprawled  about  upon  the  ground  or  wandered  rest 
lessly  to  and  fro. 

Just  inside  the  gate  his  guard  halted.  The  two 
men  exchanged  a  few  words  and  then  turned  and  re- 
entered  the  corridor.  The  Englishman  was  horror 
stricken  as  the  full  realization  of  his  terrible  plight 
forced  itself  upon  his  tired  brain.  He  turned  and 
seized  the  grating  in  an  attempt  to  open  it  and  gain 
the  safety  of  the  corridor,  but  he  found  it  securely 
locked  against  his  every  effort,  and  then  he  called 
aloud  to  the  retreating  figure  of  the  men  within. 
The  only  reply  he  received  was  a  high-pitched,  mirth 
less  laugh,  and  then  the  two  passed  through  the 
doorway  at  the  far  end  of  the  corridor  and  he  was 
alone  with  the  lions. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  QUEEN'S  STORY 

IN  THE  meantime  Bertha  Kircher  was  conducted 
the  length  of  the  plaza  toward  the  largest  and 
most  pretentious  of  the  buildings  surrounding  it. 
This  edifice  covered  the  entire  width  of  one  end  of 
the  plaza.  It  was  several  stories  in  height,  the  main 
entrance  being  approached  by  a  wide  flight  of  stone 
steps,  the  bottom  of  which  was  guarded  by  enormous 
stone  lions  while  at  the  top  there  were  two  pedestals 
flanking  the  entrance  and  of  the  same  height,  upon 
each  of  which  was  the  stone  image  of  a  large  parrot. 
As  the  girl  neared  these  latter  images  she  saw  that 
the  capital  of  each  column  was  hewn  into  the  sem 
blance  of  a  human  skull  upon  which  the  parrots 
perched.  Above  the  arched  doorway  and  upon  the 
walls  of  the  building  were  the  figures  of  other  par 
rots,  of  lions,  and  of  monkeys.  Some  of  these  were 
carved  in  bas-relief;  others  were  delineated  in 
mosaics,  while  still  others  appeared  to  have  been 
painted  upon  the  surface  of  the  wall. 

The  colorings  of  the  last  were  apparently  much 
subdued  by  age  with  the  result  that  the  general 
effect  was  soft  and  beautiful.  The  sculpturing  and 

mosaic  work  were  both  finely  executed,  giving  evi- 

826 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  327 

dence  of  a  high  degree  of  artistic  skill.  Unlike  the 
first  building  into  which  she  had  been  conducted, 
the  entrance  to  which  had  been  doorless,  massive 
doors  closed  the  entrance  which  she  now  approached. 
In  the  niches  formed  by  the  columns  which  supported 
the  door's  arch,  and  about  the  base  of  the  pedestals 
of  the  stone  parrots,  as  well  as  in  various  other 
places  on  the  broad  stairway,  lolled  some  score  of 
armed  men.  The  tunics  of  these  were  all  of  a  vivid 
yellow  and  upon  the  breast  and  back  of  each  was  em 
broidered  the  figure  of  a  parrot. 

As  she  was  conducted  up  the  stairway  one  of  these 
yellow-coated  warriors  approached  and  halted  her 
guides  at  the  top  of  the  steps.  Here  they  exchanged 
a  few  words  and  while  they  were  talking  the  girl 
noticed  that  he  who  had  halted  them,  as  well  as  those 
whom  she  could  see  of  his  companions,  appeared  to 
be,  if  possible,  of  a  lower  mentality  than  her  original 
captors. 

Their  coarse,  bristling  hair  grew  so  low  upon 
their  foreheads  as,  in  some  instances,  to  almost  join 
their  eyebrows,  while  the  irises  were  smaller,  expos 
ing  more  of  the  white  of  the  eyeball. 

After  a  short  parley  the  man  in  charge  of  the 
doorway,  for  such  he  seemed  to  be,  turned  and  struck 
upon  one  of  the  panels  with  the  butt  of  his  spear, 
at  the  same  time  calling  to  several  of  his  companions 
who  rose  and  came  forward  at  his  command.  Soon 
the  great  doors  commenced  slowly  to  swing  creak- 
ingly  open,  and  presently,  as  they  separated,  the 
girl  saw  behind  them  the  motive  force  which  operated 


328  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  massive  doors  —  to  each  door  a  half-dozen  naked 
Negroes. 

At  the  doorway  her  two  guards  were  turned  back 
and  their  places  taken  by  a  half-dozen  of  the  yellow- 
coated  soldiery.  These  conducted  her  through  the 
doorway  which  the  blacks,  pulling  upon  heavy 
chains,  closed  behind  them.  And  as  the  girl  watched 
them  she  noted  with  horror  that  the  poor  creatures 
were  chained  by  the  neck  to  the  doors. 

Before  her  led  a  broad  hallway  in  the  center  of 
which  was  a  little  pool  of  clear  water.  Here  again 
in  floor  and  walls  was  repeated  in  new  and  ever- 
changing  combinations  and  designs,  the  parrots,  the 
monkeys,  and  the  lions,  but  now  many  of  the  figures 
were  of  what  the  girl  was  convinced  must  be  gold. 
The  walls  of  the  corridor  consisted  of  a  series  of 
open  archways  through  which,  upon  either  side, 
other  spacious  apartments  were  visible.  The  hall 
way  was  entirely  unfurnished,  but  the  rooms  on 
either  side  contained  benches  and  tables.  Glimpses 
of  some  of  the  walls  revealed  the  fact  that  they  were 
covered  with  hangings  of  some  colored  fabric,  while 
upon  the  floors  were  thick  rugs  of  barbaric  design 
and  the  skins  of  black  lions  and  beautifully  marked 
leopards. 

The  room  directly  to  the  right  of  the  entrance  was 
filled  with  men  wearing  the  yellow  tunics  of  her  new 
guard  while  the  walls  were  hung  with  numerous 
spears  and  sabers.  At  the  far  end  of  the  corridor 
a  low  flight  of  steps  led  to  another  closed  doorway. 
Here  the  guard  was  again  halted.  One  of  the  guards 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  329 

at  this  doorway,  after  receiving  the  report  of  one  of 
those  who  accompanied  her,  passed  through  the  door 
leaving  them  standing  outside.  It  was  fully  fifteen 
minutes  before  he  returned,  when  the  guard  was 
again  changed  and  the  girl  conducted  into  the  cham 
ber  beyond. 

Through  three  other  chambers  and  past  three 
more  massive  doors,  at  each  of  which  her  guard  was 
changed,  the  girl  was  conducted  before  she  was 
ushered  into  a  comparatively  small  room,  back  and 
forth  across  the  floor  of  which  paced  a  man  in  a 
scarlet  tunic,  upon  the  front  and  back  of  which 
was  embroidered  an  enormous  parrot  and  upon  whose 
head  was  a  barbaric  headdress  surmounted  by  a 
stuffed  parrot. 

The  walls  of  this  room  were  entirely  hidden  by 
hangings  upon  which  hundreds,  even  thousands,  of 
parrots  were  embroidered.  Inlaid  in  the  floor  were 
golden  parrots,  while  as  thickly  as  they  could  be 
painted  upon  the  ceiling  were  brilliant-hued  parrots 
with  wings  outspread  as  though  in  the  act  of  flying. 

The  man  himself  was  larger  of  stature  than  any 
she  had  yet  seen  within  the  city.  His  parchment- 
like  skin  was  wrinkled  with  age  and  he  was  much 
fatter  than  any  other  of  his  kind  that  she  had  seen. 
His  bared  arms,  however,  gave  evidence  of  great 
strength  and  his  gait  was  not  that  of  an  old  man. 
His  facial  expression  denoted  almost  utter  imbecility 
and  he  was  quite  the  most  repulsive  human  creature 
that  ever  Bertha  Kircher  had  looked  upon. 

For  several  minutes  after  she  was  conducted  intc 


330  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

his  presence  he  appeared  not  to  be  aware  that  she 
was  there  but  continued  his  restless  pacing  to  and 
fro.  Suddenly,  without  the  slightest  warning,  and 
while  he  was  at  the  far  end  of  the  room  from  her 
with  his  back  toward  her,  he  wheeled  and  rushed 
madly  at  her.  Involuntarily  the  girl  shrank  back, 
extending  her  open  palms  toward  the  frightful  crea 
ture  as  though  to  hold  him  aloof  but  a  man  upon 
either  side  of  her,  the  two  who  had  conducted  her 
into  the  apartment,  seized  and  held  her. 

Although  he  rushed  violently  toward  her  the  man 
stopped  without  touching  her.  For  a  moment  his 
horrid  white-rimmed  eyes  glared  searchingly  into  her 
face,  immediately  following  which  he  burst  into 
maniacal  laughter.  For  two  or  three  minutes  the 
creature  gave  himself  over  to  merriment  and  then, 
stopping  as  suddenly  as  he  had  commenced  to  laugh, 
he  fell  to  examining  the  prisoner.  He  felt  of  her 
hair,  her  skin,  the  texture  of  the  garment  she  wore 
and  by  means  of  signs  made  her  understand  that 
she  was  to  open  her  mouth.  In  the  latter  he  seemed 
much  interested,  calling  the  attention  of  one  of  the 
guards  to  her  canine  teeth  and  then  baring  his  own 
sharp  fangs  for  the  prisoner  to  see. 

Presently  he  resumed  pacing  to  and  fro  across  the 
floor  and  it  was  fully  fifteen  minutes  before  he  again 
noticed  the  prisoner  and  then  it  was  to  issue  a  curt 
order  to  her  guards  who  immediately  conducted  her 
from  the  apartment. 

The  guards  now  led  the  girl  through  a  series  of 
corridors  and  apartments  to  a  narrow  stone  stair- 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  331 

way  which  led  to  the  floor  above,  finally  stopping 
before  a  small  door  where  stood  a  naked  Negro 
armed  with  a  spear.  At  a  word  from  one  of  her 
guards  the  Negro  opened  the  door  and  the  party 
pasred  into  a  low-ceiled  apartment,  the  windows  of 
which  immediately  caught  the  girl's  attention 
through  the  fact  that  they  were  heavily  barred.  The 
room  was  furnished  similarly  to  those  that  she  had 
seen  in  other  parts  of  the  building;  the  same  carved 
tables  and  benches,  the  rugs  upon  the  floor,  the  deco 
rations  upon  the  walls,  although  in  every  respect  it 
was  simpler  than  anything  she  had  seen  on  the  floor 
below.  In  one  corner  was  a  low  couch  covered  with  a 
rug  similar  to  those  on  the  floor  except  that  it  was 
of  a  lighter  texture,  and  upon  this  sat  a  woman. 

As  Bertha  Kircher's  eyes  alighted  upon  the  occu 
pant  of  the  room  the  girl  gave  a  little  gasp  of  aston 
ishment,  for  she  recognized  immediately  that  here 
was  a  creature  more  nearly  of  her  own  kind  than 
any  she  had  seen  within  the  city's  walls.  An  old 
woman  it  was  who  looked  at  her  through  faded  blue 
eyes,  sunken  deep  in  a  wrinkled  and  toothless  face. 
But  the  eyes  were  those  of  a  sane  and  intelligent 
creature,  and  the  wrinkled  face  was  the  face  of  a 
white  woman. 

At  sight  of  the  girl  the  woman  rose  and  came 
forward,  her  gait  so  feeble  and  unsteady  that  she 
was  forced  to  support  herself  with  a  long  staff  which 
she  grasped  in  both  her  hands.  One  of  the  guards 
spoke  a  few  words  to  her  and  then  the  men  turned 
and  left  the  apartment.  The  girl  stood  just  within 


882  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

the  door  waiting  in  silence  for  what  might  next  befall 
her. 

The  old  woman  crossed  the  room  and  stopped 
before  her,  raising  her  weak  and  watery  eyes  to 
the  fresh  young  face  of  the  newcomer.  Then  she 
scanned  her  from  head  to  foot  and  once  again  the 
old  eyes  returned  to  the  girl's  face.  Bertha  Kircher 
on  her  part  was  not  less  frank  in  her  survey  of  the 
little  old  woman.  It  was  the  latter  who  spoke  first. 
In  a  thin,  cracked  voice  she  spoke,  hesitatingly,  fal- 
teringly,  as  though  she  were  using  unfamiliar  words 
and  speaking  a  strange  tongue. 

"You  are  from  the  outer  world?"  she  asked  in 
English.  "God  grant  that  you  may  speak  and 
understand  this  tongue." 

"  English  ?  "  the  girl  exclaimed,  "  Yes,  of  course, 
I  speak  English." 

"Thank  God!"  cried  the  little  old  woman.  "I 
did  not  know  whether  I  myself  might  speak  it  so 
that  another  could  understand.  For  sixty  years  I 
have  spoken  only  their  accursed  gibberish.  For 
sixty  years  I  have  not  heard  a  word  in  my  native 
language.  Poor  creature!  Poor  creature!"  she 
mumbled.  "What  accursed  misfortune  threw  you 
into  their  hands?" 

"You  are  an  English  woman?"  asked  Bertha 
Kircher.  "Did  I  understand  you  aright  that  you 
are  an  English  woman  and  have  been  here  for  sixty 
years  ?  " 

The  old  woman  nodded  her  head  affirmatively. 
"For  sixty  years  I  have  never  been  outside  of  this 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  333 

palace.  Come,"  she  said,  stretching  forth  a  bony 
hand,  "  I  am  very  old  and  cannot  stand  long.  Come 
and  sit  with  me  on  my  couch." 

The  girl  took  the  proffered  hand  and  assisted  the 
old  lady  back  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  and 
when  she  was  seated  the  girl  sat  down  beside  her. 

"Poor  child!  Poor  child!"  moaned  the  old 
woman.  "Far  better  to  have  died  than  to  have  let 
them  bring  you  here.  At  first  I  might  have  de 
stroyed  myself  but  there  was  always  the  hope  that 
someone  would  come  who  would  take  me  away,  but 
none  ever  comes.  Tell  me  how  they  got  you." 

Very  briefly  the  girl  narrated  the  principal  inci 
dents  which  led  up  to  her  capture  by  some  of  the 
creatures  of  the  city. 

"Then  there  is  a  man  with  you  in  the  city?" 
asked  the  old  woman. 

"Yes,"  said  the  girl,  "but  I  do  not  know  where 
he  is  nor  what  are  their  intentions  in  regard  to  him. 
In  fact,  I  do  not  know  what  their  intentions  toward 
me  are." 

"No  one  might  even  guess,"  said  the  old  woman. 
"They  do  not  know  themselves  from  one  minute  to 
the  next  what  their  intentions  are,  but  I  think  you 
can  rest  assured,  my  poor  child,  that  you  will  never 
see  your  friend  again." 

"But  they  haven't  slain  you,"  the  girl  reminded 
her,  "and  you  have  been  their  prisoner,  you  say, 
for  sixty  years." 

"  No,"  replied  her  companion,  "  they  have  not 
killed  me,  nor  will  they  kill  you,  though  God  knows 


334  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

before  you  have  lived  long  in  this  horrible  place  you 
will  beg  them  to  kill  you." 

"Who  are  they — "  asked  Bertha  Kircher,  "what 
kind  of  people?  They  differ  from  any  that  I  ever 
have  seen.  And  tell  me,  too,  how  you  came  here.** 

"  It  was  long  ago,"  said  the  old<  %oman,  rocking 
back  and  forth  on  the  couch.  "It  was  long  ago. 
Oh,  how  long  it  was!  I  was  only  twenty  then. 
Think  of  it,  child!  Look  at  me.  I  have  no  mirror 
other  than  my  bath,  I  cannot  see  what  I  look  like 
for  my  eyes  are  old,  but  with  my  fingers  I  can  feel 
my  old  and  wrinkled  face,  my  sunken  eyes,  and 
these  flabby  lips  drawn  in  over  toothless  gums.  I 
am  old  and  bent  and  hideous,  but  then  I  was  young 
and  they  said  that  I  was  beautiful.  No,  I  will  not 
be  a  hypocrite,  I  was  beautiful.  My  glass  told  me 
that. 

"My  father  was  a  missionary  in  the  interior  and 
one  day  there  came  a  band  of  Arabian  slave  raiders. 
They  took  the  men  and  women  of  the  little  native 
village  where  my  father  labored,  and  they  took  me, 
too.  They  did  not  know  much  about  our  part  of 
the  country  so  they  were  compelled  to  rely  upon 
the  men  of  our  village,  whom  they  had  captured,  to 
guide  them.  They  told  me  that  they  never  before 
had  been  so  far  south  and  that  they  had  heard 
there  was  a  country  rich  in  ivory  and  slaves  west 
of  us.  They  wanted  to  go  there  and  from  there 
they  would  take  us  north,  where  I  was  to  be  sold 
into  the  harem  of  some  black  sultan. 

"They  often  discussed  the  price  I  would  Bring, 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  335 

and  that  that  price  might  not  lessen,  they  guarded 
me  jealously  from  one  another  so  the  journeys  were 
made  as  little  fatiguing  for  me  as  possible.  I  was 
given  the  best  food  at  their  command  and  I  was 
not  harmed. 

"  But  after  a  short  time  when  we  had  reached 
the  confines  of  the  country  with  which  the  men  of 
our  village  were  familiar  and  had  entered  upon  a 
desolate  and  arid  desert  waste,  the  Arabs  realized 
at  last  that  we  were  lost.  But  still  they  kept  on, 
ever  toward  the  west,  crossing  hideous  gorges  and 
marching  across  the  face  of  a  burning  land  beneath 
the  pitiless  sun.  The  poor  slaves  they  had  captured 
were,  of  course,  compelled  to  carry  all  the  camp 
equipage  and  loot  and  thus  heavily  burdened,  half 
starved  and  without  water  they  soon  commenced  to 
die  like  flies. 

"We  had  not  been  in  the  desert  land  long  before 
the  Arabs  were  forced  to  kill  their  horses  for  food, 
and  when  we  reached  the  first  gorge,  across  which 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  transport  the  ani 
mals,  the  balance  of  them  were  slaughtered  and  the 
meat  loaded  upon  the  poor  staggering  blacks  who 
still  survived. 

"Thus  we  continued  for  two  more  days  and  now 
all  but  a  handful  of  blacks  were  dead,  and  the  Arabs 
themselves  had  commenced  to  succumb  to  hunger 
and  thirst  and  the  intense  heat  of  the  desert.  As 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach  back  toward  the  land 
of  plenty  from  whence  we  had  come,  our  route  was 
marked  by  circling  vultures  in  the  sky  and  by  the 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


bodies  of  the  dead  who  lay  down  in  the  trackless 
waste  for  the  last  time.  The  ivory  had  been  aban 
doned  tusk  by  tusk  as  the  blacks  gave  out,  and 
along  that  trail  of  death  was  strewn  the  camp 
equipage  and  the  horse  trappings  of  a  hundred  men. 

"For  some  reason  the  Arab  chief  favored  me  ta 
the  last,  possibly  with  the  idea  that  of  all  his  other 
treasures  I  could  be  most  easily  transported,  for 
I  was  young  and  strong  and  after  the  horses  were 
killed  I  had  walked  and  kept  up  with  the  best 
of  the  men.  We  English,  you  know,  are  great 
walkers,  while  these  Arabians  had  never  walked  since 
they  were  old  enough  to  ride  a  horse. 

"I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  longer  we  kept  on 
but  at  last,  with  our  strength  almost  gone,  a  handful 
of  us  reached  the  bottom  of  a  deep  gorge.  To  scale 
the  opposite  side  was  out  of  the  question  and  so 
we  kept  on  down  along  the  sands  of  what  must 
have  been  the  bed  of  an  ancient  river,  ^antil  finally 
we  came  to  a  point  where  we  looked  out  upon  what 
appeared  to  be  a  beautiful  valley  in  which  we  felt 
assured  that  we  would  find  game  in  plenty. 

"By  then  there  were  only  two  of  us  left  —  the 
chief  and  myself.  I  do  not  need  to  tell  you  what 
the  valley  was,  for  you  found  it  in  much  the  same 
way  as  did  I.  So  quickly  were  we  captured  that  it 
seemed  they  must  have  been  waiting  for  us,  and 
I  learned  later  that  such  was  the  case,  just  as  they 
were  waiting  for  you. 

"As  you  came  through  the  forest  you  must  have 
seen  the  monkeys  and  parrots  and  since  you  have 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  337 

entered  the  palace,  how  constantly  these  animals, 
and  the  lions,  are  used  in  the  decorations.  At  home 
we  were  all  familiar  with  talking  parrots  who  re 
peated  the  things  that  they  were  taught  to  say, 
but  these  parrots  are  different  in  that  they  all  talk 
in  the  same  language  that  the  people  of  the  city 
use,  and  they  say  that  the  monkeys  talk  to  the 
parrots  and  the  parrots  fly  to  the  city  and  tell 
the  people  what  the  monkeys  say.  And  although 
it  is  hard  to  believe,  I  have  learned  that  this  is  so, 
for  I  have  lived  here  among  them  for  sixty  years 
in  the  palace  of  their  king. 

"  They  brought  me,  as  they  brought  you,  directly 
to  the  palace.  The  Arabian  chief  was  taken  else 
where.  I  never  knew  what  became  of  him.  Ago 
XXV  was  king  then.  I  have  seen  many  kings  since 
that  day.  He  was  a  terrible  man ;  but  then,  they  are 
all  terrible." 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  them  S  "  asked  the  girl. 

"They  are  a  race  of  maniacs,"  replied  the  old 
woman.  "Had  you  not  guessed  it?  Among  them 
are  excellent  craftsmen  and  good  farmers  and  a 
certain  amount  of  law  and  order,  such  as  it  is. 

"They  reverence  all  birds,  but  the  parrot  is  their 
chief  deity.  There  is  one  who  is  held  here  in  the 
palace  in  a  very  beautiful  apartment.  He  is  their 
god  of  gods.  He  is  a  very  old  bird.  If  what  Ago 
told  me  when  I  came  is  true,  he  must  be  nearly  three 
hundred  years  old  by  now.  Their  religious  rites  are 
revolting  in  the  extreme,  and  I  believe  that  it  may 
be  the  practice  of  these  rites  through  ages  that  has 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


brought  the  race  to  its  present  condition  of  im 
becility. 

"And  yet,  as  I  said,  they  are  not  without  some 
redeeming  qualities.  If  legend  may  be  credited 
their  forbears  —  a  little  handful  of  men  and  women 
who  came  from  somewhere  out  of  the  north  and  be 
came  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  central  Africa  —  found 
here  only  a  barren  desert  valley.  To  my  own 
knowledge  rain  seldom,  if  ever  falls  here,  and  yet 
you  have  seen  a  great  forest  and  luxuriant  vegeta 
tion  outside  of  the  city  as  well  as  within.  This 
miracle  is  accomplished  by  the  utilization  of  natural 
springs  which  their  ancestors  developed,  and  upon 
which  they  have  improved  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  entire  valley  receives  an  adequate  amount  of 
moisture  at  all  times. 

"Ago  told  me  that  many  generations  before  his 
time  the  forest  was  irrigated  by  changing  the  course 
of  the  streams  wjiich  carried  the  spring  water  to 
the  city  but  that  when  the  trees  had  sent  their  roots 
down  to  the  natural  moisture  of  the  soil  and  required 
no  further  irrigation,  the  course  of  the  stream  was 
changed  and  other  trees  were  planted.  And  so  the 
forest  grew  until  today  it  covers  almost  the  entire 
floor  of  the  valley  except  for  the  open  space  where 
the  city  stands.  I  do  not  know  that  this  is  true. 
It  may  be  that  the  forest  has  always  been  here, 
but  it  is  one  of  their  legends  and  it  is  borne  out 
by  the  fact  that  there  is  not  sufficient  rainfall  here 
to  support  vegetation. 

"They  are  peculiar  people  in  many  respects,  not 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  339 

only  in  their  form  of  worship  and  religious  rites  but 
also  in  that  they  breed  lions  as  other  people  breed 
cattle.  You  have  seen  how  they  use  some  of  these 
lions  but  the  majority  of  them  they  fatten  and  eat. 
At  first,  I  imagine,  they  ate  lion  meat  as  a  part 
of  their  religious  ceremony  but  after  many  genera 
tions  they  came  to  crave  it  so  that  now  it  is  practi 
cally  the  only  flesh  they  eat.  They  would,  of  course, 
rather  die  than  eat  the  flesh  of  a  bird,  nor  will  they 
eat  monkey's  meat,  while  the  herbivorous  animals 
they  raise  only  for  milk,  hides,  and  flesh  for  the 
lions.  Upon  the  south  side  of  the  city  are  the 
corrals  and  pastures  where  the  herbivorous  animals 
are  raised.  Boar,  deer,  and  antelope  are  used  prin 
cipally  for  the  lions,  while  goats  are  kept  for  milk 
for  the  human  inhabitants  of  the  city." 

"And  you  have  lived  here  all  these  years,"  ex 
claimed  the  girl,  "  without  ever  seeing  one  of  your 
own  kind?" 

The  old  woman  nodded  affirmatively. 

"For  sixty  years  you  have  lived  here,"  continued 
Bertha  Kircher,  "  and  they  have  not  harmed  you ! " 

"I  did  not  say  they  had  not  harmed  me,"  said 
the  old  woman,  "they  did  not  kill  me,  that  is  all." 

"What"  —  the  girl  hesitated  —  "what,"  she  con 
tinued  at  last,  "was  your  position  among  them? 
Pardon  me,"  she  added  quickly,  "I  think  I  know 
but  I  should  like  to  hear  from  your  own  lips,  for 
whatever  your  position  was,  mine  will  doubtless  be 
the  same." 

The  old  woman  nodded.    "  Yes,"  she  said,  "  doubt- 


340  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

less ;  if  they  can  keep  you  away  from  the  women." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  the  girl. 

"For  sixty  years  I  have  never  been  allowed  near 
a  woman.  They  would  kill  me,  even  now,  if  they 
could  reach  me.  The  men  are  frightful,  God  knows 
they  are  frightful!  But  heaven  keep  you  from  the 
women ! " 

"  You  mean,"  asked  the  girl,  "  that  the  men  will 
not  harm  me?" 

"Ago  XXV  made  me  his  queen,"  said  the  old 
woman.  "  But  he  had  many  other  queens,  nor  were 
they  all  human.  He  was  not  murdered  for  ten 
years  after  I  came  here.  Then  the  next  king  took 
me,  and  so  it  has  been  always.  I  am  the  oldest 
queen  now.  Very  few  of  their  women  live  to  a 
great  age.  Not  only  are  they  constantly  liable  to 
assassination  but,  owing  to  their  subnormal  men 
talities,  they  are  subject  to  periods  of  depression 
during  which  they  are  very  likely  to  destroy  them 
selves." 

She  turned  suddenly  and  pointed  to  the  barred 
windows.  "You  see  this  room,"  she  said,  "with  the 
black  eunuch  outside?  Wherever  you  see  these  you 
will  know  that  there  are  women,  for  with  very  few 
exceptions  they  are  never  allowed  out  of  captivity. 
They  are  considered  and  really  are  more  violent 
than  the  men." 

For  several  minutes  the  two  sat  in  silence,  and 
then  the  younger  woman  turned  to  the  older. 

"  Is   there  no  way  to  escape  ? "   she  asked. 

The  old  woman  pointed  again  to  the  barred  win- 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  341 

dows  and  then  to  the  door,  saying:  "And  there 
is  the  armed  eunuch.  And  if  you  should  pass  him, 
how  could  you  reach  the  street?  And  if  you 
reached  the  street,  how  could  you  pass  through  the 
city  to  the  outer  wall  ?  And  even  if,  by  some  miracle, 
you  should  gain  the  outer  wall,  and,  by  another 
miracle,  you  should  be  permitted  to  pass  through 
the  gate,  could  you  ever  hope  to  traverse  the  forest 
where  the  great  black  lions  roam  and  feed  upon 
men?  No!"  she  exclaimed,  answering  her  own  ques 
tion,  "  there  is  no  escape,  for  after  one  had  escaped 
from  the  palace  and  the  city  and  the  forest  it  would 
be  but  to  invite  death  in  the  frightful  desert  land 
beyond. 

"  In  sixty  years  you  are  the  first  to  find  this 
buried  city.  In  a  thousand  no  denizen  of  this  valley 
has  ever  left  it,  and  within  the  memory  of  man, 
or  even  in  their  legends,  none  had  found  them  prior 
to  my  coming  other  than  a  single  warlike  giant,  the 
story  of  whom  has  been  handed  down  from  father 
to  son. 

"I  think  from  the  description  that  he  must  have 
been  a  Spaniard,  a  giant  of  a  man  in  buckler  and 
helmet,  who  fought  his  way  through  the  terrible 
forest  to  the  city  gate,  who  fell  upon  those  who 
were  sent  out  to  capture  him  and  slew  them  with 
his  mighty  sword.  And  when  he  had  eaten  of  the 
vegetables  from  the  gardens,  and  the  fruit  from  the 
trees  and  drank  of  the  water  from  the  stream,  he 
turned  about  and  fought  his  way  back  through  the 
forest  to  the  mouth  of  the  gorge.  But  though  he 


342  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

escaped  the  city  and  the  forest  he  did  not  escape 
the  desert.  For  a  legend  runs  that  the  king,  fearful 
that  he  would  bring  others  to  attack  them,  sent  a 
party  after  him  to  slay  him. 

"For  three  weeks  they  did  not  find  him  for  they 
went  in  the  wrong  direction,  but  at  last  they  came 
upon  his  bones  picked  clean  by  the  vultures,  lying 
a  day's  march  up  the  same  gorge  through  which 
you  and  I  entered  the  valley.  I  do  not  know," 
continued  the  old  woman,  "  that  this  is  true.  It 
is  just  one  of  their  many  legends." 

"Yes,"  said  the  girl,  "it  is  true.  I  am  sure  it  is 
true,  for  I  have  seen  the  skeleton  and  the  corroded 
armor  of  this  great  giant." 

At  this  juncture  the  door  was  thrown  open  with 
out  ceremony  and  a  Negro  entered  bearing  two  flat 
vessels  in  which  were  several  smaller  ones.  These 
he  set  down  on  one  of  the  tables  near  the  women, 
and,  without  a  word,  turned  and  left.  With  the 
entrance  of  the  man  with  the  vessels,  a  delightful 
odor  of  cooked  food  had  aroused  the  realization  in 
the  girl's  mind  that  she  was  very  hungry,  and  at 
a  word  from  the  old  woman  she  walked  to  the  table 
to  examine  the  viands.  The  larger  vessels  which 
contained  the  smaller  ones  were  of  pottery  while 
those  within  them  were  quite  evidently  of  hammered 
gold.  To  her  intense  surprise  she  found  lying  be 
tween  the  smaller  vessels  a  spoon  and  a  fork,  which, 
while  of  quaint  design,  were  quite  as  serviceable  as 
any  she  had  seen  in  more  civilized  communities.  The 
tines  of  the  fork  were  quite  evidently  of  iron  or 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  343 

steel,  the  girl  did  not  know  which,  while  the  handle 
and  the  spoon  were  of  the  same  material  as  the 
smaller  vessels. 

There  was  a  highly  seasoned  stew  with  meat  and 
vegetables,  a  dish  of  fresh  fruit,  and  a  bowl  of  milk 
beside  which  was  a  little  jug  containing  something 
which  resembled  marmalade.  So  ravenous  was  she 
that  she  did  not  even  wait  for  her  companion  to 
reach  the  table,  and  as  she  ate  she  could  have  sworn 
that  never  before  had  she  tasted  more  palatable 
food.  The  old  woman  came  slowly  and  sat  down 
on  one  of  the  benches  opposite  her. 

As  she  removed  the  smaller  vessels  from  the  larger 
and  arranged  them  before  her  on  the  table  a  crooked 
smile  twisted  her  lips  as  she  watched  the  younger 
woman  eat. 

"Hunger  is  a  great  leveler,"  she  said  with  a 
laugh. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  the  girl. 

"  I  venture  to  say  that  a  few  weeks  ago  you  would 
have  been  nauseated  at  the  idea  of  eating  cat." 

"Cat?"  exclaimed  the  girl. 

"Yes,"  said  the  old  woman.  "What  is  the  dif 
ference —  a  lion  is  a  cat." 

"You  mean  I  am  eating  lion  now?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  and  as  they  prepare 
it,  it  is  very  palatable.  You  will  grow  very  fond 
of  it." 

Bertha  Kircher  smiled  a  trifle  dubiously.  "  I 
:ould  not  tell  it,"  she  said,  "  from  lamb  or  veal." 
No,"  said  the  woman,  "  it  tastes  as  grood  to  me. 


S44  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

But  these  lions  are  very  carefully  kept  and  very 
carefully  fed  and  their  flesh  is  so  seasoned  and  pre 
pared  that  it  might  be  anything  so  far  as  taste  is 
concerned." 

And  so  Bertha  Kircher  broke  her  long  fast  upon 
strange  fruits,  lion  meat,  and  goat's  milk. 

Scarcely  had  she  finished  when  again  the  door 
opened  and  there  entered  a  yellow-coated  soldier. 
He  spoke  to  the  old  woman. 

"The  king,"  she  said,  "has  commanded  that  you 
be  prepared  and  brought  to  him.  You  are  to  share 
these  apartments  with  me.  The  king  knows  that  I 
am  not  like  his  other  women.  He  never  would 
have  dared  to  put  you  with  them.  Herog  XVI  has 
occasional  lucid  intervals.  You  must  have  been 
brought  to  him  during  one  of  these.  Like  the  rest 
of  them  he  thinks  that  he  alone  of  all  the  com 
munity  is  sane,  but  more  than  once  I  have  thought 
that  the  various  men  with  whom  I  have  come  in 
contact  here,  including  the  kings  themselves,  looked 
upon  me  as,  at  least,  less  mad  than  the  others.  Yet 
how  I  have  retained  my  senses  all  these  years  is 
beyond  me." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  *  prepare'  ?"  asked 
Bertha  Kircher.  "  You  said  that  the  king  had  com 
manded  I  be  prepared  and  brought  to  him." 

"You  will  be  bathed  and  furnished  with  a  robe 
similar  to  that  which  I  wear." 

"Is  there  no  escape?"  asked  the  girl.  "Is  there 
no  way  even  in  which  I  can  kill  myself?" 

The  woman  handed  her  the  fork.     "This  is  the 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  345 

only  way,"  she  said,  "and  you  will  notice  that  the 
tines  are  very  short  and  blunt." 

The  girl  shuddered  and  the  old  woman  laid  a 
hand  gently  upon  her  shoulder.  "  He  may  only  look 
at  you  and  send  you  away,"  she  said.  "Ago  XXV 
sent  for  me  once,  tried  to  talk  with  me,  discovered 
that  I  could  not  understand  him  and  that  he  could 
not  understand  me,  ordered  that  I  be  taught  the 
language  of  his  people,  and  then  apparently  forgot 
me  for  a  year.  Sometimes  I  do  not  see  the  king 
for  a  long  period.  There  was  one  king  who  ruled 
for  five  years  whom  I  never  saw.  There  is  always 
hope;  even  I  whose  very  memory  has  doubtless  been 
forgotten  beyond  these  palace  walls  still  hope, 
though  none  knows  better  how  futilely." 

The  old  woman  led  Bertha  Kircher  to  an  adj  oining 
apartment  in  the  floor  of  which  was  a  pool  of  water. 
Here  the  girl  bathed  and  afterward  her  companion 
brought  her  one  of  the  clinging  garments  of  the 
native  women  and  adjusted  it  about  her  figure.  The 
material  of  the  robe  was  of  a  gauzy  fabric  which 
accentuated  the  rounded  beauty  of  the  girlish  form. 

"  There,"  said  the  old  woman,  as  she  gave  a  final 
pat  to  one  of  the  folds  of  the  garment,  "you  are  a 
queen  indeed!" 

The  girl  looked  down  at  her  naked  breasts  and 
but  half-concealed  limbs  in  horror.  "  They  are  going 
to  lead  me  into  the  presence  of  men  in  this  half- 
nude  condition!"  she  exclaimed. 

The  old  woman  smiled  her  crooked  smile.  "It 
is  nothing,"  she  said.  "  You  will  become  accustomed 


346  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

to  it  as  did  I  who  was  brought  up  in  the  home  of 
a  minister  of  the  gospel,  where  it  was  considered 
little  short  of  a  crime  for  a  woman  to  expose  her 
stockinged  ankle.  By  comparison  with  what  you 
will  doubtless  see  and  the  things  that  you  may  be 
called  upon  to  undergo,  this  is  but  a  trifle." 

For  what  seemed  hours  to  the  distraught  girl  she 
paced  the  floor  of  her  apartment,  awaiting  the  final 
summons  to  the  presence  of  the  mad  king.  Dark 
ness  had  fallen  and  the  oil  flares  within  the  palace 
had  been  lighted  long  before  two  messengers  ap 
peared  with  instructions  that  Herog  demanded  her 
immediate  presence  and  that  the  old  woman,  whom 
they  called  Xanila,  was  to  accompany  her.  The 
girl  felt  some  slight  relief  when  she  discovered  that 
she  was  to  have  -at  least  one  friend  with  her,  however 
powerless  to  assist  her  the  old  woman  might  be. 

The  messengers  conducted  the  two  to  a  small 
apartment  on  the  floor  below.  Xanila  explained  that 
this  was  one  of  the  anterooms  off  the  main  throne- 
room  in  which  the  king  was  accustomed  to  hold 
court  with  his  entire  retinue.  A  number  of  yellow- 
tunicked  warriors  sat  about  upon  the  benches  within 
the  room.  For  the  most  part  their  eyes  were  bent 
upon  the  floor  and  their  attitudes  that  of  moody 
dejection.  As  the  two  women  entered  several  glanced 
indifferently  at  them,  but  for  the  most  part  no 
attention  was  paid  to  them. 

^While  they  were  waiting  in  the  anteroom  there 
entered  from  another  apartment  a  young  man  uni 
formed  similarly  to  the  others  with  the  exception 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  347 

that  upon  his  head  was  a  fillet  of  gold,  in  the  front 
of  which  a  single  parrot  feather  rose  erectly  above 
his  forehead.  As  he  entered,  the  other  soldiers  in 
the  room  rose  to  their  feet. 

"That  is  Metak,  one  of  the  king's  sons,"  Xanila 
whispered  to  the  girl. 

The  prince  was  crossing  the  room  toward  the 
audience  chamber  when  his  glance  happened  to  fall 
upon  Bertha  Kircher.  He  halted  in  his  tracks  and 
stood  looking  at  her  for  a  full  minute  without  speak 
ing.  The  girl,  embarrassed  by  his  bold  stare  and 
her  scant  attire,  flushed  and,  dropping  her  gaze  to 
the  floor,  turned  away.  Metak  suddenly  commenced 
to  tremble  from  head  to  foot  and  then,  without  warn 
ing  other  than  a  loud,  hoarse  scream  he  sprang 
forward  and  seized  the  girl  in  his  arms. 

Instantly  pandemonium  ensued.  The  two  mes 
sengers  who  had  been  charged  with  the  duty  of 
conducting  the  girl  to  the  king's  presence  danced, 
shrieking,  about  the  prince,  waving  their  arms  and 
gesticulating  wildly  as  though  they  would  force  him 
to  relinquish  her,  the  while  they  dared  not  lay  hands 
upon  royalty.  The  other  guardsmen,  as  though 
suffering  in  sympathy  the  madness  of  their  prince, 
ran  forward  screaming  and  brandishing  their  sabers. 

The  girl  fought  to  release  herself  from  the  horrid 
embrace  of  the  maniac,  but  with  his  left  arm  about 
her  he  held  her  as  easily  as  though  she  had  been 
but  a  babe,  while  with  his  free  hand  he  drew  his  saber 
and  struck  viciously  at  those  nearest  him. 

One  of  the  messengers  was  the  first  to  feel  the 


348  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

keen  edge  of  Metak's  blade.  With  a  single  fierce  cut 
the  prince  drove  through  the  fellow's  collar  bone 
and  downward  to  the  center  of  his  chest.  With  a 
shrill  shriek  that  rose  above  the  screaming  of  the 
other  guardsmen  the  man  dropped  to  the  floor,  and 
as  the  blood  gushed  from  the  frightful  wound  he 
struggled  to  rise  once  more  to  his  feet  and  then 
sank  back  again  and  died  in  a  great  pool  of  his 
own  blood. 

In  the  meantime  Metak,  still  clinging  desperately 
to  the  girl,  had  backed  toward  the  opposite  door. 
At  the  sight  of  the  blood  two  of  the  guardsmen,  as 
though  suddenly  aroused  to  maniacal  frenzy,  dropped 
their  sabers  to  the  floor  and  fell  upon  each  other 
with  nails  and  teeth,  while  some  sought  to  reach  the 
prince  and  some  to  defend  him.  In  a  corner  of  the 
room  sat  one  of  the  guardsmen  laughing  uproariously 
and  just  as  Metak  succeeded  in  reaching  the  door 
and  taking  the  girl  through,  she  thought  that  she 
saw  another  of  the  men  spring  upon  the  corpse  of 
the  dead  messenger  and  bury  his  teeth  in  its  flesh. 

During  the  orgy  of  madness  Xanila  had  kept 
closely  at  the  girl's  side  but  at  the  door  of  the  room 
Metak  had  seen  her  and  wheeling  suddenly,  cut 
viciously  at  her.  Fortunately  for  Xanila  she  was 
halfway  through  the  door  at  the  time  so  that  Metak's 
blade  but  dented  itself  upon  the  stone  arch  of  the 
portal  and  then  Xanila,  guided  doubtless  by  the 
wisdom  of  sixty  years  of  similar  experiences,  fled 
down  the  corridor  as  fast  as  her  old  and  tottering 
legs  would  carry  her. 


THE  QUEEN'S  STORY  349 

Metak,  once  outside  the  door,  returned  his  saber 
to  its  scabbard  and  lifting  the  girl  bodily  from  the 
ground  carried  her  off  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
that  taken  by 


CHAPTER  XX 

CAME    TARZAN 

JUST  before  dark  that  evening,  an  almost  ex 
hausted  flier  entered  the  headquarters  of  Colonel 
Capell  of  the  Second  Rhodesians  and  saluted. 

"Well,  Thompson,"  asked  the  superior,  "what 
luck?  The  others  have  all  returned.  Never  saw  a 
thing  of  Oldwick  or  his  plane.  I  guess  we  shall  have 
to  give  it  up  unless  you  were  more  successful." 

"  I  was,"  replied  the  young  officer.  "  I  found  the 
plane." 

"No!"  ejaculated  Colonel  Capell.  "Where  was 
it?  Any  sign  of  Oldwick?" 

"  It  is  in  the  rottenest  hole  in  the  ground  you  ever 
saw,  quite  a  bit  inland.  Narrow  gorge.  Saw  the 
plane  all  right  but  can't  reach  it.  There  was  a  regu 
lar  devil  of  a  lion  wandering  around  it.  I  landed 
near  the  edge  of  the  cliff  and  was  going  to  climb 
down  and  take  a  look  at  the  plane.  But  this 
fellow  hung  around  for  an  hour  or  more  and  I 
finally  had  to  give  it  up." 

"Do  you  think  the  lions  got  Oldwick?"  asked 
the  colonel. 

"I    doubt    it,"    replied    Lieutenant    Thompson, 

"from  the  fact  that  there  was  no  indication  that 

350 


CAME  TARZAN  351 

the  lion  had  fed  anywhere  about  the  plane.  I  arose 
after  I  found  it  was  impossible  to  get  down  around 
the  plane  and  reconnoitered  up  and  down  the  gorge. 
Several  miles  to  the  south  I  found  a  small,  wooded 
valley  in  the  center  of  which  —  please  don't  think 
me  crazy,  sir< — is  a  regular  city  —  streets,  buildings, 
a  central  plaza  with  a  lagoon,  good-sized  buildings 
with  domes  and  minarets  and  all  that  sort  of  stuff." 

The  elder  officer  looked  at  the  younger  compas 
sionately.  "  You're  all  wrought  up,  Thompson,"  he 
said.  "Go  and  take  a  good  sleep.  You  have  been 
on  this  job  now  for  a  long  while  and  it  must  have 
gotten  on  your  nerves.'* 

The  young  man  shook  his  head  a  bit  irritably. 
"Pardon  me,  sir,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  telling  you 
the  truth.  I  am  not  mistaken.  I  circled  over  the 
place  several  times.  It  may  be  that  Oldwick  has 
found  his  way  there  —  or  has  been  captured  by 
these  people." 

"Were  there  people  in  the  city?"  asked  the 
colonel. 

"Yes,  I  saw  them  in  the  streets." 

"Do  you  think  cavalry  could  reach  the  valley?" 
asked  the  colonel. 

"No,"  replied  Thompson,  "the  country  is  all  cut 
up  with  these  deep  gorges.  Even  infantry  would 
have  a  devil  of  a  time  of  it,  and  there  is  absolutely 
no  water  that  I  could  discover  for  at  least  a  two 
days'  march." 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  big  Vauxhall  drew 
up  in  front  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Second 


352  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Rhodesians  and  a  moment  later  General  Smut 
alighted  and  entered.  Colonel  Capell  arose  from 
his  chair  and  saluted  his  superior  and  the  young 
lieutenant  saluted  and  stood  at  attention. 

"  I  was  passing,"  said  the  general,  "  and  I  thought 
I  would  stop  for  a  chat.  By  the  way,  how  is  the 
search  for  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  progressing? 
I  see  Thompson  here  and  I  believe  he  was  one  of 
those  detailed  to  the  search." 

"Yes,"  said  Capell,  "he  was.  He  is  the  last  to 
come  in.  He  found  the  lieutenant's  ship,"  and  then 
he  repeated  what  Lieutenant  Thompson  had  reported 
to  him.  The  general  sat  down  at  the  table  with 
Colonel  Capell  and  together  the  two  officers,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  flier,  marked  the  approximate 
location  of  the  city  which  Thompson  had  reported 
he  discovered. 

"It's  a  mighty  rough  country,"  remarked  Smut, 
"but  we  can't  leave  a  stone  unturned  until  we  have 
exhausted  every  resource  to  find  that  boy.  We  will 
send  out  a  small  force,  a  small  one  will  be  more 
likely  to  succeed  than  a  large  one.  About  one  com 
pany,  Colonel,  or  say  two,  with  sufficient  motor 
lorries  for  transport  of  rations  and  water.  Put  a 
good  man  in  command  and  let  him  establish  9-  base 
as  far  to  the  west  as  the  motors  can  travel.  You 
can  leave  one  company  there  and  send  the  other  for 
ward.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  you  can  establish 
your  base  within  a  day's  march  of  the  city  and  if 
such  is  the  case  the  force  you  send  ahead  should 
have  no  trouble  on  the  score  of  lack  of  water  as 


A  fierce  cut  drove  through  the  fellows  collar  bone. 

Page  348 


CAME  TARZAN  353 

^•^^M^^^^^^^B^MMMW^M^^^^MMM^B^^^^^^^HMMMMMMMMHMBOMMMIMMMM^^^MHWMV^^^B^^MM 

there  certainly  must  be  water  in  the  valley  where 
the  city  lies.  Detail  a  couple  of  planes  for  recon 
naissance  and  messenger  service  so  that  the  base  can 
keep  in  touch  at  all  times  with  the  advance  party. 
[When  can  your  force  move  out?" 

"  We  can  load  the  lorries  tonight,"  replied  Capell, 
"and  march  about  one  o'clock  tomorrow  morning." 

"  Good,"  said  the  general,  "  keep  me  advised,"  and 
returning  the  others'  salutes  he  departed. 

As  Tarzan  leaped  for  the  vines  he  realized  that 
the  lion  was  close  upon  him  and  that  his  life  de 
pended  upon  the  strength  of  the  creepers  clinging 
to  the  city  walls ;  but  to  his  intense  relief  he  found 
the  stems  as  large  around  as  a  man's  arm,  and  the 
tendrils  which  had  fastened  themselves  to  the  wall 
«o  firmly  fixed,  that  his  weight  upon  the  stem  ap 
peared  to  have  no  appreciable  effect  upon  them. 

He  heard  Numa's  baffled  roar  as  the  lion  slipped 
downward  clawing  futilely  at  the  leafy  creepers,  and 
then  with  the  agility  of  the  apes  who  had  reared  him, 
Tarzan  bounded  nimbly  aloft  to  the  summit  of 
the  wall. 

A  few  feet  below  him  was  the  flat  roof  of  the  ad 
joining  building  and  as  he  dropped  to  it  his  back 
was  toward  the  niche  from  which  an  embrasure 
looked  out  upon  the  gardens  and  the  forest  beyond, 
so  that  he  did  not  see  the  figure  crouching  there  in 
the  dark  shadow.  But  if  he  did  not  see  he  was  not 
long  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  he  was  not  alone, 
for  scarcely  had  his  feet  touched  the  roof  when  a 


354  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

heavy  body  leaped  upon  him  from  behind  and  brawny 
arms  encircled  him  about  the  waist. 

Taken  at  a  disadvantage  and  lifted  from  his  feet, 
the  ape-man  was,  for  the  time  being,  helpless.  What 
ever  the  creature  was  that  had  seized  him,  it  ap 
parently  had  a  well-defined  purpose  in  mind,  for 
it  walked  directly  toward  the  edge  of  the  roof  so 
that  it  was  soon  apparent  to  Tarzan  that  he  was 
to  be  hurled  to  the  pavement  below  —  a  most  effi 
cacious  manner  of  disposing  of  an  intruder.  That 
he  would  be  either  maimed  or  killed  the  ape-man 
was  confident ;  but  he  had  no  intention  of  permitting 
his  assailant  to  carry  out  the  plan. 

Tarzan's  arms  and  legs  were  free  but  he  was  in 
such  a  disadvantageous  position  that  he  could  not 
use  them  to  any  good  effect.  His  only  hope  lay  in 
throwing  the  creature  off  its  balance,  and  to  this  end 
Tarzan  straightened  his  body  and  leaned  as  far  back 
against  his  captor  as  he  could,  and  then  suddenly 
lunged  forward.  The  result  was  as  satisfactory  as 
he  could  possibly  have  hoped.  The  great  weight  of 
the  ape-man  thrown  suddenly  out  from  an  erect  posi 
tion  caused  the  other  also  to  lunge  violently  forward 
with  the  result  that  to  save  himself  he  involuntarily 
released  his  grasp.  Catlike  in  his  movements,  the 
ape-man  had  no  sooner  touched  the  roof  than  he  was 
upon  his  feet  again,  facing  his  adversary,  a  man 
almost  as  large  as  himself  and  armed  with  a  saber 
which  he  now  whipped  from  its  scabbard.  Tarzan, 
however,  had  no  mind  to  allow  the  use  of  this  for 
midable  weapon  and  so  he  dove  for  the  other's 


CAME  TARZAN  355 

legs  beneath  the  vicious  cut  that  was  directed  at  him 
from  the  side,  and  as  a  football  player  tackles  an  op 
posing  runner,  Tarzan  tackled  his  antagonist,  carry 
ing  him  backward  several  yards  and  throwing  him 
heavily  to  the  roof  upon  his  back. 

No  sooner  had  the  man  touched  the  roof  than  the 
ape-man  was  upon  his  chest,  one  brawny  hand  sought 
and  found  the  sword  wrist  and  the  other  the  throat 
of  the  yellow-tunicked  guardsman.  Until  then  the 
fellow  had  fought  in  silence  but  just  as  Tarzan's 
fingers  touched  his  throat  he  emitted  a  single  pierc 
ing  shriek  that  the  brown  fingers  cut  off  almost  in 
stantly.  The  fellow  struggled  to  escape  the  clutch 
of  the  naked  creature  upon  his  breast  but  equally  as 
well  might  he  have  fought  to  escape  the  talons  of 
Numa,  the  lion. 

Gradually  his  struggles  lessened,  his  pin-point 
eyes  popped  from  their  sockets,  rolling  horribly  up 
ward,  while  from  his  foam-flecked  lips  his  swollen 
tongue  protruded.  As  his  struggles  ceased  Tarzan 
arose,  and  placing  a  foot  upon  the  carcass  of  his  kill, 
was  upon  the  point  of  screaming  forth  his  victory 
cry  when  the  thought  that  the  work  before  him 
required  the  utmost  caution  sealed  his  lips. 

Walking  to  the  edge  of  the  roof  he  looked  down 
into  the  narrow  winding  street  below.  At  intervals, 
apparently  at  each  street  intersection,  an  oil  flare 
sputtered  dimly  from  brackets  set  in  the  walls  a 
trifle  higher  than  a  man's  head.  For  the  most  part 
the  winding  alleys  were  in  dense  shadow  and  even  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  flares  the  illumination 


356  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

was  far  from  brilliant.  In  the  restricted  area  of  his 
vision  he  could  see  that  there  were  still  a  few  of  the 
strange  inhabitants  moving  about  the  narrow  thor 
oughfares. 

To  prosecute  his  search  for  the  young  officer  and 
the  girl  he  must  be  able  to  move  about  the  city  as 
freely  as  possible,  but  to  pass  beneath  one  of  the 
corner  flares,  naked  as  he  was  except  for  a  loin 
cloth,  and  in  every  other  respect  markedly  different 
from  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  would  be  but  to 
court  almost  immediate  discovery.  As  these 
thoughts  flashed  through  his  mind  and  he  cast  about 
for  some  feasible  plan  of  action,  his  eyes  fell  upon 
the  corpse  upon  the  roof  near  him,  and  immediately 
there  occurred  to  him  the  possibility  of  disguising 
himself  in  the  raiment  of  his  conquered  adversary. 

It  required  but  a  few  moments  for  the  ape-man  to 
clothe  himself  in  the  tights,  sandals,  and  parrot- 
emblazoned  yellow  tunic  of  the  dead  soldier.  Around 
his  waist  he  buclded  the  saber  belt  but  beneath  the 
tunic  he  retained  the  hunting  knife  of  his  dead 
father.  His  other  weapons  he  could  not  lightly  dis- 
.  card,  and  so,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  eventually 
recover  them,  he  carried  them  to  the  edge  of  the 
wall  and  dropped  them  among  the  foliage  at  its 
base.  At  the  last  moment  he  found  it  difficult  to 
part  with  his  rope,  which,  with  his  knife,  was  his 
most  accustomed  weapon,  and  one  which  he  had  used 
for  the  greatest  length  of  time.  He  found  that  by 
removing  the  saber  belt  he  could  wind  the  rope  about 
his  waist  beneath  his  tunic,  and  then  replacing  tha 


CAME  TARZAN  357 

belt  still  retain  it  entirely  concealed  from  chance 
observation. 

At  last,  satisfactorily  disguised,  and  with  even  his 
shock  of  black  hair  adding  to  the  verisimilitude  of 
his  likeness  to  the  natives  of  the  city,  he  sought  for 
some  means  of  reaching  the  street  below.  While  he 
might  have  risked  a  drop  from  the  eaves  of  the  roof 
he  feared  to  do  so  lest  he  attract  the  attention  of 
passers-by,  and  probable  discovery.  The  roofs  of 
the  buildings  varied  in  height  but  as  the  ceilings  were 
all  low  he  found  that  he  could  easily  travel  along 
the  roof  tops  and  this  he  did  for  some  little  distance, 
until  he  suddenly  discovered  just  ahead  of  him  sev 
eral  figures  reclining  upon  the  roof  of  a  near-by 
building. 

He  had  noticed  openings  in  each  roof,  evidently 
giving  ingress  to  the  apartments  below,  and  now,  his 
advance  cut  off  by  those  ahead  of  him,  he  decided  to 
risk  the  chance  of  reaching  the  street  through  the 
interior  of  one  of  the  buildings.  Approaching  one 
of  the  openings  he  leaned  over  the  black  hole  and, 
listened  for  sounds  of  life  in  the  apartment  below. 
Neither  his  ears  nor  his  nose  registered  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  any  living  creature  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  and  so  without  further  hesitation  the  ape- 
man  lowered  his  body  through  the  aperture  and  was 
about  to  drop  when  his  foot  came  in  contact  with  the 
rung  of  a  ladder,  which  he  immediately  took  advan 
tage  of  to  descend  to  the  floor  of  the  room  below. 

Here,  all  was  almost  total  darkness  until  his  eyes 
became  accustomed  to  the  interior,  the  darkness  of 


358  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

which  was  slightly  alleviated  by  the  reflected  light 
from  a  distant  street  flare  which  shone  intermittently 
through  the  narrow  windows  fronting  the  thorough 
fare.  Finalty,  assured  that  the  apartment  was  un 
occupied,  Tarzan  sought  for  a  stairway  to  the 
ground  floor.  This  he  found  in  a  dark  hallway  upon 
which  the  room  opened  —  a  flight  of  narrow  stone 
steps  leading  downward  toward  the  street.  Chance 
favored  him  so  that  he  reached  the  shadows  of  the 
arcade  without  encountering  any  of  the  inmates  of 
the  house. 

Once  on  the  street  he  was  not  at  a  loss  as  to  the 
direction  which  he  wished  to  go  for  he  had  tracked 
the  two  Europeans  practically  to  the  gate,  which  he 
felt  assured  must  have  given  them  entry  to  the  city. 
His  keen  sense  of  direction  and  location  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  judge  with  considerable  accuracy 
the  point  within  the  city  where  he  might  hope  to  pick 
up  the  spoor  of  those  whom  he  sought. 

The  first  need,  however,  was  to  discover  a  street 
paralleling  the  northern  wall  along  which  he  could 
make  his  way  in  the  direction  of  the  gate  he  had  seen 
from  the  forest.  Realizing  that  his  greatest  hcpe 
of  success  lay  in  the  boldness  of  his  operations  he 
moved  off  in  the  direction  of  the  nearest  street 
flare  without  making  any  other  attempt  at  conceal 
ment  than  keeping  in  the  shadows  of  the  arcade, 
which  he  judged  would  draw  no  particular  attention 
to  him  in  that  he  saw  other  pedestrians  doing  like 
wise.  The  few  he  passed  gave  him  no  heed,  and  he 
had  almost  reached  the  nearest  intersection  when 


CAME  TARZAN  359 

he  saw  several  men  wearing  yellow  tunics  identical 
to  that  which  he  had  taken  from  his  prisoner. 

They  were  coming  directly  toward  him  and  the 
ape-man  saw  that  should  he  continue  on  he  would 
meet  them  directly  at  the  intersection  of  the  two 
streets  in  the  full  light  of  the  flare.  His  first  inclina 
tion  was  to  go  steadily  on,  for  personally  he  had  no 
objection  to  chancing  a  scrimmage  with  them;  but  a 
sudden  recollection  of  the  girl,  possibly  a  helpless 
prisoner  in  the  hands  of  these  people,  caused  him 
to  seek  some  other  and  less  hazardous  plan  of  action. 

He  had  almost  emerged  from  the  shadow  of  the 
arcade  into  the  full  light  of  the  flare  and  the  ap 
proaching  men  were  but  a  few  yards  from  him, 
when  he  suddenly  kneeled  and  pretended  to  adjust 
the  wrappings  of  his  sandals  —  wrappings,  which, 
by  the  way,  he  was  not  at  all  sure  that  he  had 
adjusted  as  their  makers  had  intended  them  to  be 
adjusted.  He  was  still  kneeling  when  the  soldiers 
came  abreast  of  him.  Like  the  others  he  had  passed 
they  paid  no  attention  to  him  and  the  moment  they 
were  behind  him  he  continued  upon  his  way,  turning 
to  the  right  at  the  intersection  of  the  two  streets. 

The  street  he  now  took  was,  at  this  point,  so 
extremely  winding  that,  for  the  most  part,  it 
received  no  benefit  from  the  flares  at  either  corner, 
so  that  he  was  forced  practically  to  grope  his  way 
in  the  dense  shadows  of  the  arcade.  The  street 
became  a  little  straighter  just  before  he  reached 
the  next  flare,  and  as  he  came  within  sight  of  it  he 
saw  silhouetted  against  a  patch  of  light  the  figure 


860  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  a  lion.  The  beast  was  coming  slowly  down  the 
street  in  Tarzan's  direction. 

A  woman  crossed  the  way  directly  in  front  of  it 
and  the  lion  paid  no  attention  to  her,  nor  she  to  the 
lion.  An  instant  later  a  little  child  ran  after  the 
woman  and  so  close  did  he  run  before  the  lion  that 
the  beast  was  forced  to  turn  out  of  its  way  a  step 
to  avoid  colliding  with  the  little  one.  The  ape-man 
grinned  and  crossed  quickly  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  for  his  delicate  senses  indicated  that  at 
this  point  the  breeze  stirring  through  the  city  streets 
and  deflected  by  the  opposite  wall  would  now  blow 
from  the  lion  toward  him  as  the  beast  passed, 
whereas  if  he  remained  upon  the  side  of  the  street 
upon  which  he  had  been  walking  when  he  discovered 
the  carnivore,  his  scent  would  have  been  borne  to  the 
nostrils  of  the  animal,  and  Tarzan  was  sufficiently 
jungle-wise  to  realize  that  while  he  might  deceive 
the  eyes  of  man  and  beast  he  could  not  so  easily 
disguise  from  the  nostrils  of  one  of  the  great  cats 
that  he  was  a  creature  of  a  different  species  from  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  the  only  human  beings,  pos 
sibly,  that  Numa  was  familiar  with.  In  him  the  cat 
would  recognize  a  stranger,  and,  therefore,  an 
enemy,  and  Tarzan  had  no  desire  to  be  delayed  by 
an  encounter  with  a  savage  lion.  His  ruse  worked 
successfully,  the  lion  passing  him  with  not  more  than 
a  side  glance  in  his  direction. 

He  had  proceeded  for  some  little  distance  and  h?  d 
about  reached  a  point  where  he  judged  he  would 
find  the  street  which  led  up  from  the  city  gate 


CAME  TARZAN  361 

when,  at  an  intersection  of  two  streets,  his  nostrils 
caught  the  scent  spoor  of  the  girl.  Out  of  a  maze 
of  other  scent  spoors  the  ape-man  picked  the  familiar 
odor  of  the  girl  and,  a  second  later,  that  of  Smith- 
Oldwick.  He  had  been  forced  to  accomplish  it,  how 
ever,  by  bending  very  low  at  each  street  intersec 
tion  in  repeated  attention  to  his  sandal  wrappings, 
bringing  his  nostrils  as  close  to  the  pavement  as 
possible. 

As  he  advanced  along  the  street  through  which  the 
two  had  been  conducted  earlier  in  the  day  he  noted, 
as  had  they,  the  change  in  the  type  of  buildings  as 
he  passed  from  a  residence  district  into  that  portion 
occupied  by  shops  and  bazaars.  Here  the  number 
of  flares  was  increased  so  that  they  appeared  not 
only  at  street  intersections  but  midway  between  as 
well,  and  there  were  many  more  people  abroad.  The 
shops  were  open  and  lighted,  for  with  the  setting  of 
the  sun  the  intense  heat  of  the  day  had  given  place 
to  a  pleasant  coolness.  Here  also  the  number  of 
lions,  roaming  loose  through  the  thoroughfares,  in 
creased,  and  also  for  the  first  time  Tarzan  noted  the 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  people. 

Once  he  was  nearly  upset  by  a  naked  man  running 
rapidly  through  the  street  screaming  at  the  top  of 
his  voice.  And  again  he  nearly  stumbled  over  a 
woman  who  was  making  her  way  in  the  shadows  of 
one  of  the  arcades  upon  all  fours.  At  first  the  ape- 
man  thought  she  was  hunting  for  something  she 
had  dropped,  but  as  he  drew  to  one  side  to  watch 
her,  he  saw  that  she  was  doing  nothing  of  the  kind  — 


362  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

that  she  had  merely  elected  to  walk  upon  her  hands 
and  knees  rather  than  erect  upon  her  feet.  In 
another  block  he  saw  two  creatures  struggling  upon 
the  roof  of  an  adjacent  building  until  finally  one 
of  them,  wrenching  himself  free  from  the  grasp  of 
the  other,  gave  his  adversary  a  mighty  push  which 
hurled  him  to  the  pavement  below  where  he  lay  mo 
tionless  upon  the  dusty  road.  For  an  instant  a  wild 
shriek  re-echoed  through  the  city  from  the  lungs  of 
the  victor  and  then,  without  an  instant's  hesitation, 
the  fellow  leaped  headfirst  to  the  street  beside  the 
body  of  his  victim.  A  lion  moved  out  from  the 
dense  shadows  of  a  doorway  and  approached  the  twe 
bloody  and  lifeless  things  before  him.  Tarzan  won 
dered  what  effect  the  odor  of  blood  would  have  upon 
the  beast  and  was  surprised  to  see  that  the  animal 
only  sniffed  at  the  corpses  and  the  hot  red  blood  and 
then  lay  down  beside  the  two  dead  men. 

He  had  passed  the  lion  but  a  short  distance  when 
his  attention  was  called  to  the  figure  of  a  man  lower 
ing  himself  laboriously  from  the  roof  of  a  building 
upon  the  east  side  of  the  thoroughfare.  Tarzan's 
curiosity  was  aroused. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

IN    THE    ALCOVE 

A3  SMITH-OLDWICK  realized  that  he  was 
alone  and  practically  defenseless  in  an  enclo 
sure  filled  with  great  lions  he  was,  in  his  weakened 
condition,  almost  in  a  state  verging  upon  hysterical 
terror.  Clinging  to  the  grating  for  support  he 
dared  not  turn  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the 
beasts  behind  him.  He  felt  his  knees  giving  weakly 
beneath  him.  Something  within  his  head  spun  rap 
idly  around.  He  became  very  dizzy  and  nauseated 
and  then  suddenly  all  went  black  before  his 
eyes  as  his  limp  body  collapsed  at  the  foot  of  the 
grating. 

How  long  he  lay  there  unconscious  he  never  knew ; 
but  as  reason  slowly  reasserted  itself  in  his  semi 
conscious  state  he  was  aware  that  he  lay  in  a  cool 
bed  upon  the  whitest  of  linen  in  a  bright  and  cheery 
room,  and  that  upon  one  side  close  to  him  was  an 
open  window,  the  delicate  hangings  of  which  were 
fluttering  in  a  soft  summer  breeze  which  blew  in 
from  a  sun-kissed  orchard  of  ripening  fruit  which 
he  could  see  without  —  an  old  orchard  in  which  soft, 
green  grass  grew  between  the  laden  trees,  and  where 

the  sun  filtered  through  the  foliage;;  and  upon  the 

363 


364  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

dappled  greensward  a  little  child  was  playing  with  a 
frolicsome  puppy. 

"  God,"  thought  the  man,  "  what  a  horrible  night 
mare  I  have  passed  through!"  and  then  he  felt  a 
hand  stroking  his  brow  and  cheek  —  a  cool  and 
gentle  hand  that  smoothed  away  his  troubled  recol 
lections.  For  a  long  minute  Smith-Oldwick  lay  in 
utter  peace  and  content  until  gradually  there  was 
forced  upon  his  sensibilities  the  fact  that  the  hand 
had  become  rough,  and  that  it  was  no  longer  cool 
but  hot  and  moist ;  and  suddenly  he  opened  his  eyes 
and  looked  up  into  the  face  of  a  huge  lion. 

Lieutenant  Harold  Percy  Smith-Oldwick  was  not 
only  an  English  gentleman  and  an  officer  in  name, 
he  was  also  what  these  implied  —  a  brave  man;  but 
when  he  realized  that  the  sweet  picture  he  had  looked 
upon  was  but  the  figment  of  a  dream,  and  that  in 
reality  he  still  lay  where  he  had  fallen  at  the  foot 
of  the  grating  with  a  lion  standing  over  him  licking 
his  face,  the  tears  sprang  to  his  eyes  and  ran  down 
his  cheeks.  Never,  he  thought,  had  an  unkind  fate 
played  so  cruel  a  ioke  upon  a  human  being. 

For  some  time  ue  lay  feigning  death  while  the 
lion,  having  ceased  to  lick  him,  sniffed  about  his 
body.  There  are  some  things  than  which  death  is 
to  be  preferred;  and  there  came  at  last  to  the 
Englishman  the  realization  that  it  would  be  better  to 
die  swiftly  than  to  lie  in  this  horrible  predicament 
until  his  mind  broke  beneath  the  strain  and  he  went 
mad. 

And   so,  deliberately  and  without  haste,  he  rose. 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  365 

clinging  to  the  grating  for  support.  At  his  first 
move  the  lion  growled,  but  after  that  he  paid  no 
further  attention  to  the  man,  and  when  at  last 
Smith-Oldwick  had  regained  his  feet  the  lion  moved 
indifferently  away.  Then  it  was  that  the  man 
turned  and  looked  about  the  enclosure. 

Sprawled  beneath  the  shade  of  the  trees  and  lying 
upon  the  long  bench  beside  the  south  wall  the  great 
beasts  rested,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
who  moved  restlessly  about.  It  was  these  that  the 
man  feared  and  yet  when  two  more  of  them  had 
passed  him  by  he  began  to  feel  reassured,  recalling 
the  fact  that  they  were  accustomed  to  the  presence 
of  man. 

And  yet  he  dared  not  move  from  the  grating. 
As  the  man  examined  his  surroundings  he  noted  that 
the  branches  of  one  of  the  trees  near  the  further 
wall  spread  close  beneath  an  open  window.  If  he 
could  reach  that  tree  and  had  the  strength  to  do 
so,  he  could  easily  climb  out  upon  the  branch  and 
escape,  at  least,  from  the  enclosure  of  the  lions. 
But  in  order  to  reach  the  tree  vhe  must  pass  the 
full  length  of  the  enclosure,  and  at  the  very  bole 
of  the  tree  itself  two  lions  lay  sprawled  out  in 
slumber. 

For  half  an  hour  the  man  stood  gazing  longingly 
at  this  seeming  avenue  of  escape,  and  at  last,  with  a 
muttered  oath,  he  straightened  up  and  throwing 
back  his  shoulders1  in  a  gesture  of  defiance,  he 
walked  slowly  and  deliberately  down  the  center  of 
the  courtyard.  One  of  the  prowling  lions  turned 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


from  the  side  wall  and  moved  toward  the  center 
directly  in  the  man's  path,  but  Smith-Oldwick  was 
committed  to  what  he  considered  his  one  chance,  for 
even  temporary  safety,  and  so  he  kept  on,  ignoring 
the  presence  of  the  beast.  The  lion  slouched  to  his 
side  and  sniffed  him  and  then,  growling,  he  bared 
his  teeth. 

Smith-Oldwick  drew  the  pistol  from  his  shirt. 
"  If  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  kill  me,"  he  thought. 
"I  can't  see  that  it  will  make  any  difference  in  the 
long  run  whether  I  infuriate  him  or  not.  The  beg 
gar  can't  kill  me  any  deader  in  one  mood  than 
another." 

But  with  the  man's  movement  in  withdrawing  the 
weapon  from  his  shirt  the  lion's  attitude  suddenly 
altered  and  though  he  still  growled  he  turned  and 
sprang  away,  and  then  at  last  the  Englishman  stood 
almost  at  the  foot  of  the  tree  that  was  his  goal, 
and  between  him  and  safety  sprawled  a  sleeping  Hon. 

Above  him  was  a  limb  that  ordinarily  he  could 
have  leaped  for  and  reached  with  ease;  but  weak 
from  his  wounds  and  loss  of  blood  he  doubted  his 
ability  to  do  so  now.  There  was  even  a  question 
as  to  whether  he  would  be  able  to  ascend  the  tree 
at  all.  There  was  just  one  chance:  the  lowest  branch 
left  the  bole  within  easy  reach  of  a  man  standing  on 
the  ground  close  to  the  tree's  stem,  but  to  reach 
a  position  where  the  branch  would  be  accessible  he 
must  step  over  the  body  of  a  lion.  Taking  a  deep 
breath  he  placed  one  foot  between  the  sprawled  legs 
of  the  beast  and  gingerly  raised  the  other  to  plant 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  3(>7 

Jt  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  tawny  body. 
"  What,"  he  thought,  "  if  the  beggar  should  happen 
to  wake  now?"  The  suggestion  sent  a  shudder 
through  his  frame  but  he  did  not  hesitate  or  with 
draw  his  foot.  Gingerly  he  planted  it  beyond  the 
lion,  threw  his  weight  forward  upon  it  and  cautiously 
brought  his  other  foot  to  the  side  of  the  first. 
He  had  passed  and  the  lion  had  not  awakened. 

Smith-Oldwick  was  weak  from  loss  of  blood  and 
the  hardships  he  had  undergone,  but  the  realization 
of  his  situation  impelled  him  to  a  show  of  agility 
and  energy  which  he  probably  could  scarcely  have 
equaled  when  in  possession  of  his  normal  strength. 
With  his  life  depending  upon  the  success  of  his 
efforts,  he  swung  himself  quickly  to  the  lower 
branches  of  the  tree  and  scrambled  upward  out  of 
reach  of  possible  harm  from  the  lions  below — ' 
though  the  sudden  movement  in  the  branches  above 
them  awakened  both  the  sleeping  beasts.  The  ani 
mals  raised  their  heads  and  looked  questioningly  up 
for  a  moment  and  then  lay  back  again  to  resume 
their  broken  slumber. 

So  easily  had  the  Englishman  succeeded  thus  far 
that  he  suddenly  began  to  question  as  to  whether 
he  had  at  any  time  been  in  real  danger.  The  lions, 
as  he  knew,  were  accustomed  to  the  presence  of  men ; 
but  yet  they  were  still  lions  and  he  was  free  to  admit 
that  he  breathed  more  easily  now  that  he  was  safe 
above  their  clutches. 

Before  him  lay  the  open  window  he  had  seen 
from  the  ground.  He  was  now  on  a  level  with  it 


368  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

and  could  see  an  apparently  unoccupied  chamber 
beyond,  and  toward  this  he  made  his  way  along  a 
stout  branch  that  swung  beneath  the  opening.  It 
was  not  a  difficult  feat  to  reach  the  window,  and  a 
moment  later  he  drew  himself  over  the  sill  and 
dropped  into  the  room. 

He  found  himself  in  a  rather  spacious  apartment, 
the  floor  of  which  was  covered  with  rugs  of  barbaric 
design,  while  the  few  pieces  of  furniture  were  of  a 
similar  type  to  that  which  he  had  seen  in  the  room 
on  the  first  floor  into  which  he  and  Bertha  Kircher 
had  been  ushered  at  the  conclusion  of  their  journey. 
At  one  end  of  the  room  was  what  appeared  to  be 
a  curtained  alcove,  the  heavy  hangings  of  which 
completely  hid  the  interior.  In  the  wall  opposite 
the  window  and  near  the  alcove  was  a  closed  door, 
apparently  the  only  exit  from  the  room. 

He  could  see  in  the  waning  light  without,  that 
the  close  of  the  day  was  fast  approaching,  and  he 
hesitated  while  he  deliberated  the  advisability  of 
waiting  until  darkness  had  fallen,  or  of  immediately 
searching  for  some  means  of  escape  from  the  build 
ing  and  the  city.  He  at  last  decided  that  it  would 
do  no  harm  to  investigate  beyond  the  room  that  he 
might  have  some  idea  as  how  best  to  plan  his  escape 
after  dark.  To  this  end  he  crossed  the  room  toward 
the  door  but  he  had  taken  only  a  few  steps  when 
the  hangings  before  the  alcove  separated  and  the 
figure  of  a  woman  appeared  in  the  oponing. 

She  was  young  and  beautifully  formed ;  the  single 
drapery  wound  around  her  body  from  below  her 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  369 

breasts  left  no  detail  of  her  symmetrical  proportions 
unrevealed,  but  her  face  was  the  face  of  an  imbecile. 
At  sight  of  her  Smith-Oldwick  halted,  momentarily 
expecting  that  his  presence  would  elicit  screams  for 
help  from  her.  On  the  contrary  she  came  toward 
him  smiling,  and  when  she  was  close  her  slender, 
shapely  fingers  touched  the  sleeve  of  his  torn  blouse 
as  a  curious  child  might  handle  a  new  toy,  and 
still  with  the  same  smile  she  examined  him  from, 
head  to  foot,  taking  in,  in  childish  wonderment, 
every  detail  of  his  apparel. 

Presently  she  spoke  to  him  in  a  soft,  well-modu 
lated  voice  which  contrasted  sharply  with  her  facial 
appearance.  The  voice  and  the  girlish  figure  har 
monized  perfectly  and  seemed  to  belong  to  each 
other,  while  the  head  and  face  were  those  of  another 
creature.  Smith-Oldwick  could  understand  no  word 
of  what  she  said,  but  nevertheless  he  spoke  to  her 
in  his  own  cultured  tone,  the  effect  of  which  upon 
her  was  evidently  most  gratifying,  for  before  he 
realized  her  intentions  or  could  prevent  her  she  had 
thrown  both  arms  about  his  neck  and  was  kissing 
him  with  the  utmost  abandon. 

The  man  tried  to  free  himself  from  her  rather 
surprising  attentions,  but  she  only  clung  more 
tightly  to  him  and  suddenly,  as  he  recalled  that  he 
had  always  heard  that  one  must  humor  the  mentally 
deficient,  and  at  the  same  time  seeing  in  her  a  pos 
sible  agency  of  escape,  he  closed  his  eyes  and  re 
turned  her  embraces. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  door  opened  and 


370  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

a  man  entered.  With  the  sound  from  the  first  move 
ment  of  the  latch,  Smith-Oldwick  opened  his  eyes, 
but  though  he  endeavored  to  disengage  himself  from 
the  girl  he  realized  that  the  newcomer  had  seen  their 
rather  compromising  position.  The  girl,  whose 
back  was  toward  the  door,  seemed  at  first  not  to 
realize  that  someone  had  entered,  but  when  she  did 
she  turned  quickly  and  as  her  eyes  fell  upon  the 
man  whose  terrible  face  was  now  distorted  with  an 
expression  of  hideous  rage  she  turned,  screaming, 
and  fled  toward  the  alcove.  The  Englishman,  flushed 
and  embarrassed,  stood  where  she  had  left  him. 
With  the  sudden  realization  of  the  futility  of  at 
tempting  an  explanation,  came  that  of  the  menac 
ing  appearance  of  the  man,  whom  he  now  recognized 
as  the  official  who  had  received  them  in  the  room 
below.  The  fellow's  face,  livid  with  insane  rage  and, 
possibly,  jealousy,  was  twitching  violently,  accentu 
ating  the  maniacal  expression  that  it  habitually 
wore. 

For  a  moment  he  seemed  paralyzed  by  anger, 
and  then  with  a  loud  shriek  that  rose  into  an 
uncanny  wail,  he  drew  his  curved  saber  and  sprang 
toward  the  Englishman.  To  Smith-Oldwick  there 
seemed  no  possible  hope  of  escaping  the  keen-edged 
weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  infuriated  man,  and 
though  he  felt  assured  that  it  would  draw  down 
upon  him  an  equally  sudden  and  possibly  more  ter 
rible  death,  he  did  the  only  thing  that  remained  for 
him  to  do  —  drew  his  pistol  and  fired  straight  for 
the  heart  of  the  oncoming  man.  Without  even  so 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  371 

much  as  a  groan  the  fellow  lunged  forward  upon  the 
floor  at  Smith-Oldwick's  feet  —  killed  instantly  with 
a  bullet  through  his  heart.  For  several  seconds  the 
silence  of  the  tomb  reigned  in  the  apartment. 

The  Englishman,  standing  over  the  prostrate 
figure  of  the  dead  man,  watched  the  door  with  drawn 
weapon,  expecting  momentarily  to  hear  the  rush  of 
feet  of  those  whom  he  was  sure  would  immediately 
investigate  the  report  of  the  pistol.  But  no  sounds 
came  from  below  to  indicate  that  anyone  there  had 
heard  the  explosion,  and  presently  the  man's  atten 
tion  was  distracted  from  the  door  to  the  alcove, 
between  the  hangings  of  which  the  face  of  the  girl 
appeared.  The  eyes  were  widely  dilated  and  the 
lower  jaw  dropped  in  an  expression  of  surprise  and 
awe. 

The  girl's  gaze  was  riveted  upon  the  figure  upon 
the  floor,  and  presently  she  crept  stealthily  into  the 
room  and  tiptoed  toward  the  corpse.  She  appeared 
as  though  constantly  poised  for  flight  and  when  she 
had  come  to  within  two  or  three  feet  of  the  body  she 
stopped  and  looking  quickly  up  at  Smith-Oldwick 
voiced  some  interrogation  which  he  could  not,  of 
course,  understand.  Then  she  came  close  to  the  side 
of  the  dead  man  and  kneeling  upon  the  floor  felt 
gingerly  of  the  body. 

Presently  she  shook  the  corpse  by  the  shoulder, 
and  then  with  a  show  of  strength  which  her  tenderly 
girlish  form  belied,  she  turned  the  body  over  on 
its  back.  If  she  had  been  in  doubt  before,  one  glance 
at  the  hideous  features  set  in  death  must  have  con- 


172 


vinced  her  that  life  was  extinct,  and  with  the  realiza 
tion  there  broke  from  her  lips  peal  after  peal  of 
mad,  maniacal  laughter  as  with  her  little  hands  she 
beat  upon  the  upturned  face  and  breast  of  the  dead 
man.  It  was  a  gruesome  sight  from  which  the  Eng 
lishman  involuntarily  drew  back  —  a  gruesome,  dis 
gusting  sight  such  as,  he  realized,  might  never  be 
witnessed  outside  a  madhouse  or  this  frightful  city. 

In  the  midst  of  her  frenzied  rejoicing  at  the  death 
of  the  man,  and  Smith-Oldwick  could  attribute  her 
actions  to  no  other  cause,  she  suddenly  desisted  from 
her  futile  attacks  upon  the  insensate  flesh,  and, 
leaping  to  her  feet,  ran  quickly  to  the  door  where 
she  shot  a  wooden  bolt  into  its  socket,  thus  securing 
them  from  interference  from  without.  Then  she 
returned  to  the  center  of  the  room  and  spoke  rapidly 
to  the  Englishman  gesturing  occasionally  toward 
the  body  of  the  slain  man.  When  he  could  not 
understand  she  presently  became  provoked  and  in  a 
sudden  hysteria  of  madness  she  rushed  forward  as 
though  to  strike  the  Englishman.  Smith-Oldwick 
dropped  back  a  few  steps  and  leveled  his  pistol  upon 
her.  Mad  though  she  must  have  been,  she  evidently 
was  not  so  mad  but  what  she  had  connected  the 
loud  report,  the  diminutive  weapon,  and  the  sudden 
death  of  the  man  in  whose  house  she  dwelt,  for  she 
instantly  desisted  and  quite  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
come  upon  her,  her  homicidal  mood  departed. 

Again  the  vacuous,  imbecile  smile  took  possession 
of  her  features  and  her  voice,  dropping  its  harsh 
ness,  resumed  the  soft,  well-modulated  tones  with 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  373 

which'  she  had  first  addressed  him.  Now  she  at 
tempted  by  signs  to  indicate  her  wishes,  and  motion 
ing  Smith-Oldwick  to  follow  her  she  went  to  the 
hangings  and  opening  them  disclosed  the  alcove.  It 
was  rather  more  than  an  alcove,  being  a  fair-sized 
room  heavy  with  rugs  and  hangings  and  soft,  pil 
lowed  couches.  Turning  at  the  entrance  she  pointed 
to  the  corpse  upon  the  floor  of  the  outer  room,  and 
then  crossing  the  alcove  she  raised  some  draperies 
which  covered  a  couch  and  fell  to  the  floor  upon  all 
sides,  disclosing  an  opening  beneath  the  furniture. 

To  this  opening  she  pointed  and  then  again  to  the 
corpse,  indicating  plainly  to  the  Englishman  that  it 
was  her  desire  that  the  body  be  hidden  here.  But  if 
he  had  been  in  doubt,  she  essayed  to  dispel  it  by 
grasping  his  sleeve  and  urging  him  in  the  direction 
of  the  body  which  the  two  of  them  then  lifted  and 
half  carried  and  half  dragged  into  the  alcove.  At 
first  they  encountered  some  difficulty  when  they  en 
deavored  to  force  the  body  of  the  man  into  the  small 
space  she  had  selected  for  it,  but  eventually  they 
succeeded  in  doing  so.  Smith-Oldwick  was  again 
impressed  by  the  fiendish  brutality  of  the  girl.  In 
the  center  of  the  room  lay  a  blood-stained  rug  which 
the  girl  quickly  gathered  up  and  draped  over  a  piece 
of  furniture  in  such  a  way  that  the  stain  was  hid 
den.  By  rearranging  the  other  rugs  and  by  bringing 
one  from  the  alcove  she  restored  the  room  to  order 
so  no  outward  indication  of  the  tragedy  so  recently 
enacted  there  was  apparent. 

These  things  attended  to,  and  the  hangings  draped 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


once  more  about  the  couch  that  they  might  hide  the 
gruesome  thing  beneath,  the  girl  once  more  threw 
her  arms  about  the  Englishman's  neck  and  dragged 
him  toward  the  soft  and  luxurious  pillows  above  the 
dead  man.  Acutely  conscious  of  the  horror  of  his 
position,  filled  with  loathing,  disgust,  and  an  out 
raged  sense  of  decency,  Smith-Oldwick  was  also 
acutely  alive  to  the  demands  of  self-preservation. 
He  felt  that  he  was  warranted  in  buying  his  life  at 
almost  any  price;  but  there  was  a  point  at  which 
his  finer  nature  rebelled. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  loud  knock  sounded 
upon  the  door  of  the  outer  room.  Springing  from 
the  couch,  the  girl  seized  the  man  by  the  arm  and 
dragged  him  after  her  to  the  wall  close  by  the  head 
of  the  couch.  Here  she  drew  back  one  of  the  hang 
ings,  revealing  a  little  niche  behind,  into  which  she 
shoved  the  Englishman  and  dropped  the  hangings 
before  him,  effectually  hiding  him  from  observation 
from  the  rooms  beyond. 

He  heard  her  cross  the  alcove  to  the  door  of  the 
outer  room,  he  heard  the  bolt  withdrawn  followed 
by  the  voice  of  a  man  mingled  with  that  of  the  girl. 
The  tones  of  both  seemed  rational  so  that  he  might 
have  been  listening  to  an  ordinary  conversation  in 
some  foreign  tongue.  Yet  with  the  gruesome  experi 
ences  of  the  day  behind  him,  he  could  not  but  mo 
mentarily  expect  some  insane  outbreak  from  beyond 
the  hangings. 

He  was  aware  from  the  sounds  that  the  two  had 
entered  the  alcove  and,  prompted  by  a  desire  to  know 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  375 


what  manner  of  man  he  might  next  have  to  contend 
with,  he  slightly  parted  the  heavy  folds  that  hid  the 
two  from  his  view  and  looking  out  saw  them  sitting 
on  the  couch  with  their  arms  about  each  other,  the 
girl  with  the  same  expressionless  smile  upon  her 
face  that  she  had  vouchsafed  him.  He  found  he 
could  so  arrange  the  hangings  that  a  very  narrow 
slit  between  two  of  them  permitted  him  to  watch  the 
actions  of  those  in  the  alcove  without  revealing  him 
self  or  increasing  his  liability  of  detection. 

He  saw  the  girl  lavishing  her  kisses  upon  the 
newcomer,  a  much  younger  man  than  he  whom 
Smith-Oldwick  had  dispatched.  Presently  the  girl 
disengaged  herself  from  the  embrace  of  her  lover 
as  though  struck  by  a  sudden  memory.  Her  brows 
puckered  as  in  labored  thought  and  then  with  a 
startled  expression,  she  threw  a  glance  backward 
toward  the  hidden  niche  where  the  Englishman  stood, 
after  which  she  whispered  rapidly  to  her  companion, 
occasionally  jerking  her  head  in  the  direction  of  the 
niche  and  on  several  occasions  making  a  move  with 
one  hand  and  forefinger,  which  Smith-Oldwick  could 
not  mistake  as  other  than  an  attempt  to  describe 
his  pistol  and  its  use. 

It  was  evident  then  to  him  that  she  was  betraying 
him,  and  without  further  loss  of  time  he  turned  his 
back  toward  the  hangings  and  commenced  a  rapid 
examination  of  his  hiding  place.  In  the  alcove  the 
man  and  the  girl  whispered,  and  then  cautiously 
and  with  great  stealth,  the  man  rose  and  drew  his 
curved  saber.  On  tiptoe  he  approached  the  hang- 


876  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

ings,  the  girl  creeping  at  his  side,  ^either  spoke 
now,  nor  was  there  any  sound  in  the  room  as  the 
girl  sprang  forward  and  with  outstretched  arm  and 
pointing  finger  indicated  a  point  upon  the  curtain  at 
the  height  of  a  man's  breast.  Then  she  stepped 
to  one  side,  and  her  companion,  raising  his  blade  to 
a  horizontal  position,  lunged  suddenly  forward  and 
with  the  full  weight  of  his  body  and  his  right  arm, 
drove  the  sharp  point  through  the  hangings  and 
into  the  niche  behind  for  its  full  length. 

Bertha  Kircher,  finding  her  struggles  futile  and 
realizing  that  she  must  conserve  her  strength  for 
some  chance  opportunity  of  escape,  desisted  froic 
her  efforts  to  break  from  the  grasp  of  Prince  Metak 
as  the  fellow  fled  with  her  through  the  dimly  lighted 
corridors  of  the  palace.  Through  many  chambers 
the  prince  fled,  bearing  his  prize.  It  was  evident 
to  the  girl  that,  though  her  captor  was  the  king's 
son,  he  was  not  above  capture  and  punishment  for  his 
deeds,  as  otherwise  he  would  not  have  shown  such 
evident  anxiety  to  escape  with  her,  as  well  as  from 
the  results  of  his  act. 

From  the  fact  that  he  was  constantly  turning 
affrighted  eyes  behind  them,  and  glancing  suspici 
ously  into  every  nook  and  corner  that  they  passed, 
she  guessed  that  the  prince's  punishment  might  be 
t)oth  speedy  and  terrible  were  he  caught. 

She  knew  from  their  route  that  they  must  have 
doubled  back  several  times  although  she  had  quite 
lost  all  sense  of  direction ;  but  she  did  not  know  that 


72V  THE  'ALCOVE  377 

the  prince  was  as  equally  confused  as  she,  and  that 
really  he  was  running  in  an  aimless,  erratic  manner 
hoping  that  he  might  stumble  eventually  upon  a 
place  of  refuge. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  offspring  of 
maniacs  should  have  difficulty  in  orienting  himself 
in  the  winding  mazes  of  a  palace  designed  by  maniacs 
for  a  maniac  king.  Now  a  corridor  turned  gradually 
and  almost  imperceptibly  in  a  new  direction,  again 
one  doubled  back  upon  and  crossed  itself;  here  the 
floor  rose  gradually  to  the  level  of  another  story,  or 
again  there  might  be  a  spiral  stairway  down  which 
the  mad  prince  rushed  dizzily  with  his  burden. 
Upon  what  floor  they  were  or  in  what  part  of  the 
palace  even  Metak  had  no  idea  until,  halting 
abruptly  at  a  closed  door,  he  pushed  it  open  to  step 
into  a  brilliantly  lighted  chamber  filled  with  war 
riors,  at  one  end  of  which  sat  the  king  upon  a  great 
throne;  beside  this4  to  the  girl's  surprise,  she  saw 
another  throne  where  was  seated  a  huge  lioness, 
recalling  to  her  the  words  of  Xanila  which,  at  the 
time,  had  made  no  impression  on  her :  "  But  he  had 
many  other  queens,  nor  were  they  all  huraan." 

At  sight  of  Metak  and  the  girl,  the  king  rose  from 
his  throne  and  started  across  the  chamber,  all 
semblance  of  royalty  vanishing  in  the  maniac's  un 
controllable  passion.  And  as  he  came  he  shrieked 
orders  and  commands  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  No 
sooner  had  Metak  so  unwarily  opened  the  door  to 
this  hornets'  nest  than  he  immediately  withdrew  an*5, 
turning,  fled  again  in  a  new  direction.  But  now  a 


378  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

hundred  men  were  close  upon  his  heels,  laughing, 
shrieking,  and  possibly  cursing.  He  dodged  hither 
and  thither  distancing  them  for  several  minutes 
until,  at  the  bottom  of  a  long  runway  that  inclined 
steeply  downward  from  a  higher  level,  he  burst  into 
a  subterranean  apartment  lighted  by  many  flares. 

In  the  center  of  the  room  was  a  pool  of  consider 
able  size,  the  level  of  the  water  being  but  a  few  inches 
below  the  floor.  Those  behind  the  fleeing  prince 
and  his  captive  entered  the  chamber  in  time  to  see 
Metak  leap  into  the  water  with  the  girl  and  disap 
pear  beneath  the  surface  taking  his  captive  with  him, 
nor,  though  they  waited  excitedly  around  the  rim 
of  the  pool,  did  either  of  the  two  again  emerge. 

When  Smith-Oldwick  turned  to  investigate  his 
hiding  place  his  hands,  groping  upon  the  rear  wall, 
immediately  came  in  contact  with  the  wooden  panels 
of  a  door  and  a  bolt  such  as  that  which  secured  the 
door  of  the  outer  room.  Cautiously  and  silently 
drawing  the  wooden  bar  he  pushed  gently  against 
the  panel  to  find  that  the  door  swung  easily  and 
noiselessly  outward  into  utter  darkness.  Moving 
carefully  and  feeling  forward  for  each  step  he  passed 
out  of  the  niche,  closing  the  door  behind  him. 

Feeling  about  he  discovered  that  he  was  in  a  nar 
row  corridor  which  he  followed  cautiously  for  a  few 
yards  to  be  brought  up  suddenly  by  what  appeared 
to  be  a  ladder  across  the  passageway.  He  felt  of 
the  obstruction  carefully  with  his  hands  until  he  was 
assured  that  it  was  indeed  a  ladder  and  that  a.  «oKd 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  S79 

wall  was  just  beyond  it,  ending  the  corridor.  There 
fore,  as  he  could  not  go  forward  and  as  the  ladder 
ended  at  the  floor  upon  which  he  stood,  and  as  he 
did  not  care  to  retrace  his  steps,  there  was  no  al 
ternative  but  to  climb  upward,  and  this  he  did,  his 
pistol  ready  in  a  side  pocket  of  his  blouse. 

He  had  ascended  but  two  or  three  rungs  when 
his  head  came  suddenly  and  painfully  in  contact 
with  a  hard  surface  above  him.  Groping  about 
with  one  hand  over  his  head  he  discovered  that  the 
obstacle  seemed  to  be  the  covering  to  a  trapdoor  in 
the  ceiling  which,  with  a  little  effort,  he  succeeded 
in  raising  a  couple  of  inches,  revealing  through  the 
cracks  the  stars  of  a  clear  African  night. 

With  a  sigh  of  relief,  but  with  unabated  caution, 
he  gently  slid  the  trapdoor  to  one  side  far  enough 
to  permit  him  to  raise  his  eyes  above  the  level  of 
the  roof.  A  quick  glance  assured  him  that  there  was 
none  near  enough  to  observe  his  movements,  nor,  in 
fact,  as  far  as  he  could  see,  was  anyone  in  sight. 

Drawing  himself  quickly  through  the  aperture 
he  replaced  the  cover  and  endeavored  to  regain  his 
bearings.  Directly  to  the  south  of  him  the  low  roof 
he  stood  upon  adjoined  a  much  loftier  portion  of 
the  building,  which  rose  several  stories  above  his 
head.  A  few  yards  to  the  west  he  could  see  the 
flickering  light  of  the  flares  of  a  winding  street,  and 
toward  this  he  made  his  way. 

From  the  edge  of  the  roof  he  looked  down  upon 
the  night  life  of  the  mad  city.  He  saw  men  an(J 
women  and  children  and  lions,  and  of  all  that  he  saw 


380  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

it  was  quite  evident  to  him  that  only  the  lions  were 
sane.  With  the  aid  of  the  stars  he  easily  picked 
out  the  points  of  the  compass,  and  following  care 
fully  in  his  memory  the  steps  that  had  led  him  into 
the  city  and  to  the  roof  upon  which  he  now  stood, 
he  knew  that  the  thoroughfare  upon  which  he  looked 
was  the  same  along  which  he  and  Bertha  Kircher 
had  been  led  as  prisoners  earlier  in  the  day. 

If  he  could  reach  this  he  might  be  able  to  pass 
undetected  in  the  shadows  of  the  arcade  to  the  city 
gate.  He  had  already  given  up  as  futile  the  thought 
of  seeking  out  the  girl  and  attempting  to  succor 
Tier,  for  he  knew  that  alone  and  with  the  few  remain 
ing  rounds  of  ammunition  he  possessed,  he  could 
do  nothing  against  this  city-full  of  armed  men.  That 
he  could  live  to  cross  the  lion-infested  forest  beyond 
the  city  was  doubtful  and  that  having,  by  some 
miracle,  won  to  the  desert  beyond,  his  fate  would 
be  certainly  sealed,  but  yet  he  was  consumed  with 
but  one  desire  —  to  leave  behind  him  as  far  as  pos 
sible  this  horrid  city  of  maniacs. 

He  saw  that  the  roofs  rose  to  the  same  level 
as  that  upon  which  he  stood  unbroken  to  the  north 
to  the  next  street  intersection.  Directly  below  him 
was  a  flare.  To  reach  the  pavement  in  safety  it 
was  necessary  that  he  find  as  dark  a  portion  of  the 
avenue  as  possible.  And  so  he  sought  along  the 
edge  of  the  roofs  for  a  place  where  he  might  descend 
in  comparative  concealment. 

He  had  proceeded  some  little  way  beyond  a  point 
where  the  street  curved  abruptly  to  the  east  before 


IN  THE  ALCOVE  381 

he  discovered  a  location  sufficiently  to  his  liking. 
But  even  here  he  was  compelled  to  wait  a  consid 
erable  time  for  a  satisfactory  moment  for  his  descent 
which  he  had  decided  to  make  down  one  of  the  pillars 
of  the  arcade.  Each  time  he  prepared  to  lower  him 
self  over  the  edge  of  the  roofs,  footsteps  approach 
ing  in  one  direction  or  another  deterred  him  until  at 
last  he  had  almost  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
would  have  to  wait  for  the  entire  city  to  sleep  before 
continuing  his  flight. 

But  finally  came  a  moment  which  he  felt  propitious 
and  though  with  inward  qualms  it  was  with  outward 
calm  that  he  commenced  the  descent  to  the  street 
below. 

When  at  last  he  stood  beneath  the  arcade  he  was 
congratulating  himself  upon  the  success  that  had 
attended  his  efforts  up  to  this  point  when,  at  a  slight 
sound  behind  him,  he  turned  to  see  a  tall  figure  in  the 
yellow  tunic  of  a  warrior  confronting  him. 


\ 


OUT   OF   THE   NICHE 

,  the  lion,  growled  futilely  in  baffled  rage 
as  he  slipped  back  to  the  ground  at  the  foot 
of  the  wall  after  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  drag 
down  the  fleeing  ape-man.  He  poised  to  make  a 
second  effort  to  follow  his  escaping  quarry  when  his 
nose  picked  up  a  hitherto  unnoticed  quality  in  the 
scent  spoor  of  his  intended  prey.  Sniffing  at  the 
ground  that  Tarzan's  feet  had  barely  touched, 
Numa's  growl  changed  to  a  low  whine,  for  he  had 
recognized  the  scent  spoor  of  the  man-thing  that 
had  rescued  him  from  the  pit  of  the  Wamabos. 

What  thoughts  passed  through  that  massive 
head?  Who  may  say?  But  now  there  was  no  indica 
tion  of  baffled  rage  as  the  great  lion  turned  and 
moved  majestically  eastward  along  the  wall.  At 
the  eastern  end  of  the  city  he  turned  toward  the 
south,  continuing  his  way  to  the  south  side  of  the 
wall  along  which  were  the  pens  and  corrals  where 
the  herbivorous  flocks  were  fattened  for  the  herds 
of  domesticated  lions  within  the  city.  The  great 
black  lions  of  the  forest  fed  with  almost  equal  im 
partiality  upon  the  flesh  of  the  grass-eaters  and 
man.  Like  Numa  of  the  pit  they  occasionally  made 

882 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  383 

excursions  across  the  desert  to  the  fertile  valley  of 
the  Wamabos,  but  principally  they  took  their  toll 
of  meat  from  the  herds  of  the  walled  city  of  Herog, 
the  mad  king,  or  seized  upon  some  of  his  luckless 
subjects. 

Numa  of  the  pit  was  in  some  respects  an  exception 
to  the  rule  which  guided  his  fellows  of  the  forest 
in  that  as  a  cub  he  had  been  trapped  and  carried 
into  the  city  where  he  was  kept  for  breeding  pur 
poses,  only  to  escape  in  his  second  year.  They  had 
tried  to  teach  him  in  the  city  of  maniacs  that  he 
must  not  eat  the  flesh  of  man,  and  the  result  of 
their  schooling  was  that  only  when  aroused  to  anger 
or  upon  that  one  occasion  that  he  had  been  impelled 
by  the  pangs  of  hunger,  did  he  ever  attack  man. 

The  animal  corrals  of  the  maniacs  are  protected 
by  an  outer  wall  or  palisade  of  upright  logs,  the 
lower  ends  of  which  are  imbedded  in  the  ground, 
the  logs  themselves  being  placed  as  close  together 
as  possible  and  further  reinforced  and  bound  to 
gether  by  withes.  At  intervals  there  are  gates 
through  which  the  flocks  are  turned  on  to  the  graz 
ing  land  south  of  the  city  during  the  daytime.  It 
is  at  such  times  that  the  black  lions  of  the  forest 
take  their  greatest  toll  from  the  herds,  and  it  is 
infrequent  that  a  lion  attempts  to  enter  the  corrals 
at  night.  But  Numa  of  the  pit,  having  scented  the 
spoor  of  his  benefactor,  was  minded  again  to  pass 
into  the  walled  city  and  with  that  idea  in  his  cun 
ning  brain  he  crept  stealthily  along  the  outer  side  of 
the  palisade,  testing  each  gateway  with  a  padded 


884  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

foot  until  at  last  he  discovered  one  which  seemed 
insecurely  fastened.  Lowering  his  great  head  he 
pressed  against  the  gate  surging  forward  with  all 
the  weight  of  his  huge  body  and  the  strength  of 
his  giant  sinews  —  one  mighty  effort  and  Numa  was 
within  the  corral. 

The  enclosure  contained  a  herd  of  goats  which 
immediately  upon  the  advent  of  the  carnivore  started 
a  mad  stampede  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  corral 
which  was  bounded  by  the  south  wall  of  the  city. 
Numa  had  been  within  such  a  corral  as  this  before 
so  that  he  knew  that  somewhere  in  the  wall  was  a 
small  door  through  which  the  goatherd  might  pass 
from  the  city  to  his  flock;  toward  this  door  he  made 
his  way,  whether  by  plan  or  accident  it  is  difficult 
to  say,  though  in  the  light  of  ensuing  events  it 
seems  possible  that  the  former  was  the  case. 

To  reach  the  gate  he  must  pass  directly  through 
the  herd  which  had  huddled  affrightedly  close  to  the 
opening  so  that  once  again  there  was  a  furious  rush 
of  hoofs  as  Numa  strode  quickly  to  the  side  of  the 
portal.  If  Numa  had  planned,  he  had  planned  well, 
for  scarcely  had  he  reached  his  position  when  the 
door  opened  and  a  herder's  head  was  projected 
into  the  enclosure,  the  fellow  evidently  seeking  an 
explanation  of  the  disturbance  among  his  flock, 
Possibly  he  discovered  the  cause  of  the  commotion! 
but  it  is  doubtful,  for  it  was  dark  and  the  great, 
taloned  paw  that  reached  up  and  struck  downward 
a  mighty  blow  that  almost  severed  his  head  from 
his  body,  moved  so  quickly  and  silently  that  the 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  385 

man  was  dead  within  a  fraction  of  a  second  from 
the  moment  that  he  opened  the  door,  and  then  Numa, 
knowing  now  his  way,  passed  through  the  wall  into 
the  dimly  lighted  streets  of  the  city  beyond. 

Smith-OldwJck's  first  thought  when  he  was  ac 
costed  by  the  figure  in  the  yellow  tunic  of  a  soldier 
was  to  shoot  the  man  dead  and  trust  to  his  legs 
and  the  dimly  lighted  winding  streets  to  permit 
Ms  escape,  for  he  knew  that  to  be  accosted  was 
equivalent  to  recapture  since  no  inhabitant  of  this 
weird  city  but  would  recognize  him  as  an  alien. 
It  would  be  a  simple  thing  to  shoot  the  man  from 
the  pocket  where  the  pistol  lay  without  drawing  the 
yeapon,  and  with  this  purpose  in  mind  the  English 
man  slipped  his  hands  into  the  side  pocket  of  his 
blouse,  but  simultaneously  with  this  action  his  wrist 
was  seized  in  a  powerful  grasp  and  a  low  voice 
whispered  in  English:  "Lieutenant,  it  is  I,  Tarzan 
of  the  Apes." 

The  relief  from  the  nervous  strain  under  which 
he  had  been  laboring  for  so  long,  left  Smith-Old- 
wick  suddenly  as  weak  as  a  babe,  so  that  he  was 
forced  to  grasp  the  ape-man's  arm  for  support — i 
and  when  he  found  his  voice  all  he  could  do  was  to 
repeat:  "You?  You?  I  thought  you  were  dead!" 

"  No,  not  dead,"  replied  Tarzan,  "  and  I  see  that 
you  are  not  either.  But  how  about  the  girl?" 

"I  haven't  seen  her,"  replied  the  Englishman, 
"since  we  were  brought  here.  We  were  taken  into 
"*\  building  on  the  plaza  close  by  and  there  we  were 


separated.  She  was  led  away  by  guards  and  I  was 
put  into  a  den  of  lions.  I  haven't  seen  her  since." 

"How  did  you  escape?"  asked  the  ape-man. 

"The  lions  didn't  seem  to  pay  much  attention  to 
me  and  I  climbed  out  of  the  place  by  way  of  a  tree 
and  through  a  window  into  a  room  on  the  second 
floor.  Had  a  little  scrimmage  there  with  a  fellow 
and  was  hidden  by  one  of  their  women  in  a  hole 
in  the  wall.  The  loony  thing  then  betrayed  me  to 
another  bounder  who  happened  in,  but  I  found  a  way 
out  and  up  onto  the  roof  where  I  have  been  for 
quite  some  time  now  waiting  for  a  chance  to  get 
down  into  the  street  without  being  seen.  That's  all 
I  know,  but  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea  in  the  world 
where  to  look  for  Miss  Kircher." 

"  Where  were  you  going  now?"  asked  Tarzan. 

Smith-Oldwick  hesitated.  "I — well,  I  couldn't 
do  anything  here  alone  and  I  was  going  to  try  to 
get  out  of  the  city  and  in  some  way  reach  the 
British  forces  east  and  bring  help." 

"You  couldn't  do  it,"  said  Tarzan,  "even  if  you 
got  through  the  forest  alive  you  could  never  cross 
the  desert  country  without  food  or  water." 

"What  shall  we  do,  then?"  asked  the  English 
man. 

"We  will  see  if  we  can  find  the  girl,"  replied  the 
ape-man  and  then,  as  though  he  had  forgotten  the 
presence  of  the  Englishman  and  was  arguing  to  con 
vince  himself,  "  She  may  be  a  German  and  a  spy, 
but  she  is  a  woman — a  white  woman  —  I  can't  leave 
her  here." 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  387 

"But  how  are  we  going  to  find  her?"  asked  the 
Englishman. 

"  I  have  followed  her  this  far,"  replied  Tarzan, 
"and  unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken  I  can  follow 
her  still  farther." 

"But  I  cannot  accompany  you  in  these  clothes 
without  exposing  us  both  to  detection  and  arrest," 
argued  Smith-Oldwick. 

"We  will  get  you  other  clothes,  then,"  said 
Tarzan. 

"How?"  asked  the  Englishman. 

"  Go  back  to  the  roof  beside  the  city  wall  where 
I  entered,"  replied  the  ape-man  with  a  grim  smile, 
"and  ask  the  naked  dead  man  there  how  I  got  my 
disguise." 

Smith-Oldwick  looked  quickly  up  at  his  compan 
ion.  "I  have  it,"  he  exclaimed.  "I  know  where 
there  is  a  fellow  who  doesn't  need  his  clothes  any 
more,  and  if  we  can  get  back  on  this  roof  I  think 
we  can  find  him  and  get  his  apparel  without  much 
resistance.  Only  a  girl  and  a  young  fellow  whom 
we  could  easily  surprise  and  overcome." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Tarzan.  "How 
do  you  know  that  the  man  doesn't  need  his  clothes 
any  more." 

"I  know  he  doesn't  need  them,"  replied  the 
Englishman,  "because  I  killed  him." 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  the  ape-man,  "I  see.  I  guess 
it  might  be  easier  that  way  than  to  tackle  one  of 
these  fellows  in  the  street  where  there  is  more  chance 
of  our  being  interrupted." 


388  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

"But  how  are  we  going  to  reach  the  roof  again, 
after  all?"  queried  Smith-Oldwick. 

"  The  same  way  you  came  down,"  replied  Tarzan. 
"  This  roof  is  low  and  there  is  a  little  ledge  formed 
by  the  capital  of  each  column;  I  noticed  that  when 
you  descended.  Some  of  the  buildings  wouldn't 
have  been  so  easy  to  negotiate." 

Smith-Oldwick  looked  up  toward  the  eaves  of  the 
low  roof.  "  It's  not  very  high,"  he  said,  "  but  I  am 
afraid  I  can't  make  it.  I'll  try  —  I've  been  pretty 
weak  since  a  lion  mauled  me  and  the  guards  beat 
me  up,  and  too,  I  haven't  eaten  since  yesterday." 

Tarzan  thought  a  moment.  "You've  got  to  go 
with  me,"  he  said  at  last.  "I  can't  leave  you  here. 
The  only  chance  you  have  of  escape  is  through  me 
and  I  can't  go  with  you  now  until  we  have  found 
the  girl." 

"I  want  to  go  with  you,"  replied  Smith-Oldwick. 
"  I'm  not  much  good  now  but  at  that  two  of  us  may 
be  better  than  one." 

"All  right,"  said  Tarzan,  "come  on,"  and  before 
the  Englishman  realized  what  the  other  contemplated 
Tarzan  had  picked  him  up  and  thrown  him  across 
his  shoulder.  "Now,  hang  on,"  whispered  the  ape- 
man,  and  with  a  short  run  he  clambered  apelike  up 
the  front  of  the  low  arcade.  So  quickly  and  easily 
was  it  done  that  the  Englishman  scarcely  had  time 
to  realize  what  was  happening  before  he  was  de 
posited  safely  upon  the  roof. 

"There,"  remarked  Tarzan.  "Now,  lead  me  to 
the  place  you  speak  of." 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  389 

Smith-Oldwick  had  no  difficulty  in  locating  the 
trap  in  the  roof  through  which  he  had  escaped. 
Removing  the  cover  the  ape-man  bent  low,  listening, 
and  sniffing.  "Come,"  he  said  after  a  moment's 
investigation  and  lowered  himself  to  the  floor  be 
neath.  Smith-Oldwick  followed  him  and  together 
tfie  two  crept  through  the  darkness  toward  the  door 
in  the  back  wall  of  the  niche  in  which  the  English 
man  had  been  hidden  by  the  girl.  They  found  the 
<ioor  ajar  and  opening  it  Tarzan  saw  a  streak  of 
light  showing  through  the  hangings  that  separated 
>t  from  the  alcove. 

Placing  his  eye  close  to  the  aperture  he  saw  the 
girl  awd  the  young  man  of  which  the  Englishman 
had  spoken  seated  on  opposite  sides  of  a  low  table 
upon  which  food  was  spread.  Serving  them  was  a 
giant  Negro  and  it  was  he  whom  the  ape-man  watched 
most  closely.  Familiar  with  the  tribal  idiosyncrasies 
of  a  g>eat  number  of  African  tribes  over  a  consider 
able  proportion  of  the  Dark  Continent,  the  Tar- 
mangnni  at  last  felt  reasonably  assured  that  he  knew 
from  what  part  of  Africa  this  slave  had  come,  and 
the  dialect  of  his  people.  There  was,  however,  the 
chance  that  the  fellow  had  been  captured  in  childhood 
and  that  through  long  years  of  non-use  his  native 
language  had  become  lost  to  him,  but  then  there 
always  had  been  an  element  of  chance  connected  with 
nearly  every  event  of  Tarzan's  life,  so  he  waited 
patiently  until  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  the 
black  man  approached  a  little  table  which  stood  near 
the  niche  in  which  Tarzan  and  the  Englishman  hid. 


390  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

As  the  slave  bent  over  some  dish  which  stood  upon 
the  table  his  ear  was  not  far  from  the  aperture 
through  which  Tarzan  looked.  Apparently  from  a 
solid  wall,  for  the  Negro  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
existence  of  the  niche,  came  to  him  in  the  tongue 
of  his  own  people,  the  whispered  words :  "  If  you 
would  return  to  the  land  of  the  Wamabo  say  noth 
ing,  but  do  as  I  bid  you." 

The  black  rolled  terrified  eyes  toward  the  hang 
ings  at  his  side.  The  ape-man  could  see  him  tremble 
and  for  a  moment  was  fearful  that  in  his  terror  he 
would  betray  them.  "  Fear  not,"  he  whispered,  "  we 
are  your  friends." 

At  last  the  Negro  spoke  in  a  low  whisper,  scarcely 
audible  even  to  the  keen  ears  of  the  ape-man. 
"  What,"  he  asked,  "  can  poor  Otobu  do  for  the  god 
who  speaks  to  him  out  of  the  solid  wall?" 

"This,"  replied  Tarzan.  "Two  of  us  are  com 
ing  into  this  room.  Help  us  prevent  this  man  and 
woman  from  escaping  or  raising  an  outcry  that  will 
bring  others  to  their  aid." 

"I  will  help  you,"  replied  the  Negro,  "to  keep 
them  within  this  room,  but  do  not  fear  that  their 
outcries  will  bring  others.  These  walls  are  built 
so  that  no  sound  may  pass  through  and  even  if  it 
did  what  difference  would  it  make  in  this  village 
which  is  constantly  filled  with  the  screams  of  its  mad 
people.  Do  not  fear  their  cries.  No  one  will  notice 
them.  I  go  to  do  your  bidding." 

Tarzan  saw  the  black  cross  the  room  to  the  table 
upon  which  he  placed  another  dish  of  food  before 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  391 

the  feasters.  Then  he  stepped  to  a  place  behind 
fche  man  and  as  he  did  so  raised  his  eyes  to  the  point 
in  the  wall  from  which  the  ape-man's  voice  had 
come  to  him,  as  much  as  to  say,  "Master,  I  am 
ready." 

Without  more  delay  Tarzan  threw  aside  the  hang^ 
ings  and  stepped  into  the  room.  As  he  did  so  the 
young  man  rose  from  the  table  to  be  instantly  seized 
from  behind  by  the  black  slave.  The  girl,  whose 
back  was  toward  the  ape-man  and  his  companion, 
was  not  at  first  aware  of  their  presence  but  saw 
only  the  attack  of  the  slave  upon  her  lover,  and  with 
a  loud  scream  she  leaped  forward  to  assist  the  lat 
ter.  Tarzan  sprang  to  her  side  and  laid  a  heavy 
hand  upon  her  arm  before  she  could  interfere  with 
Otobu's  attentions  to  the  young  man.  At  first,  as 
she  turned  toward  the  ape-man,  her  face  reflected 
only  mad  rage,  but  almost  instantly  this  changed 
into  the  vapid  smile  with  which  Smith-Oldwick  was 
already  familiar  and  her  slim  fingers  commenced 
their  soft  appraisement  of  the  newcomer. 

Almost  immediately  she  discovered  Smith-Oldwick 
but  there  was  neither  surprise  nor  anger  upon  her 
countenance.  Evidently  the  poor  mad  creature 
knew  but  two  principal  moods  from  one  to  the  other 
of  which  she  changed  with  lightning-like  rapidity. 

"Watch  her  a  moment,"  said  Tarzan  to  the  Eng 
lishman,  "while  I  disarm  that  fellow,"  and  stepping 
to  the  side  of  the  young  man  whom  Otobu  was  having 
difficulty  in  subduing  Tarzan  relieved  him  of  his 
saber.  "  Tell  them,"  he  said  to  the  Negro,  "  if  you 


392  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

speak  their  language,  that  we  will  not  harm  them  if 
they  leave  us  alone  and  let  us  depart  in  peace." 

The  black  had  been  looking  at  Tarzan  with  wide 
eyes,  evidently  not  comprehending  how  this  god 
could  appear  in  so  material  a  form,  and  with  the 
voice  of  a  white  Bwana  and  the  uniform  of  a  warrior 
of  this  city  to  which  he  quite  evidently  did  not 
belong.  But  nevertheless  his  first  confidence  in  the 
voice  that  offered  him  freedom  was  not  lessened  and 
he  did  as  Tarzan  bid  him. 

"  They  want  to  know  what  you  want,"  said  Otobu 
after  he  had  spoken  to  the  man  and  the  girl. 

"Tell  them  that  we  want  food  for  one  thing," 
•aid  Tarzan,  "and  something  else  that  we  know 
where  to  find  in  this  room.  Take  the  man's  spear, 
Otobu,  I  see  it  leaning  against  the  wall  in  the  corner 
of  the  room.  And  you,  Lieutenant,  take  his  saber," 
and  then  again  to  Otobu,  "I  will  watch  the  man 
while  you  go  and  bring  forth  that  which  is  beneath 
the  couch  over  against  this  wall,"  and  Tarzan  indi 
cated  the  location  of  the  piece  of  furniture. 

Otobu,  trained  to  obey,  did  as  he  was  bid.  The 
eyes  of  the  man  and  the  girl  followed  him,  and  as 
he  drew  back  the  hangings  and  dragged  forth  the 
corpse  of  the  man  Smith-Oldwick  had  slain,  the  girl's 
lover  voiced  a  loud  scream  and  attempted  to  leap 
forward  to  the  side  of  the  corpse.  Tarzan,  however, 
seized  him  and  then  the  fellow  turned  upon  him 
with  teeth  and  nails.  It  was  with  no  little  difficulty 
that  Tarzan  finally  subdued  the  man,  and  while 
Otobu  was  removing  the  outer  clothing  from  the 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  393 

corpse,  Tarzan  asked  the  black  to  question  the 
young  man  as  to  his  evident  excitement  at  the  sight 
of  the  body. 

"I  can  tell  you  Bwana,"  replied  Otobu.  "This 
man  was  his  father." 

"What  is  he  saying  to  the  girl?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"He  is  asking  her  if  she  knew  that  the  body  of 
his  father  was  under  the  couch.  And  she  is  saying 
that  she  did  not  know  it." 

Tarzan  repeated  the  conversation  to  Smith-Old- 
wick  who  smiled.  "If  the  chap  could  have  seen  her 
removing  all  evidence  of  the  crime,  and  arranging 
the  hangings  of  the  couch  so  that  the  body  was  con 
cealed  after  she  had  helped  me  drag  it  across  the 
room,  he  wouldn't  have  very  much  doubt  as  to  her 
knowledge  of  the  affair.  The  rug  you  see  draped 
over  the  bench  in  the  corner  was  arranged  to  hide 
the  blood  stain  —  in  some  ways  they  are  not  so  loony 
after  all." 

The  black  man  had  now  removed  the  outer  gar 
ments  from  the  dead  man,  and  Smith-Oldwick  was 
hastily  drawing  them  on  over  his  own  clothing. 
*'And  now,'*  said  Tarzan,  "we  will  sit  down  and 
eat.  One  accomplishes  little  on  an  empty  stomach." 
As  they  ate  the  ape-man  attempted  to  carry  on  a 
conversation  with  the  two  natives  through  Otobu. 
He  learned  that  they  were  in  the  palace  which  had 
belonged  to  the  dead  man  lying  upon  the  floor  beside 
them.  He  had  held  an  official  position  of  some 
nature,  and  he  and  his  family  were  of  the  ruling 
class  but  were  not  members  of  the  court. 


394  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

When  Tarzan  questioned  them  about  Bertha 
Kircher,  the  young  man  said  that  she  had  been 
taken  to  the  king's  palace;  and  when  asked  why 
replied :  "  For  the  king,  of  course." 

During  the  conversation  both  the  man  and  the 
girl  appeared  quite  rational,  even  asking  some  ques 
tions  as  to  the  country  from  which  their  uninvited 
guests  had  come,  and  evidencing  much  surprise  when 
informed  that  there  was  anything  but  waterless 
wastes  beyond  their  own  valley. 

When  Otobu  asked  the  man,  at  Tarzan's  sugges 
tion,  if  he  was  familiar  with  the  interior  of  the  king's 
palace  he  replied  that  he  was;  that  he  was  a  friend 
of  Prince  Metak,  one  of  the  king's  sons,  and  that 
he  often  visited  the  palace  and  that  Metak  also  came 
here  to  his  father's  palace  frequently.  As  Tarzan 
ate  he  racked  his  brain  for  some  plan  whereby  he 
might  utilize  the  knowledge  of  the  young  man  to 
gain  entrance  to  the  palace,  but  he  had  arrived  at 
nothing  which  he  considered  feasible  when  there  came 
a  loud  knocking  upon  the  door  of  the  outer  room. 

For  a  moment  no  one  spoke  and  then  the  young 
man  raised  his  voice  and  cried  aloud  to  those  with 
out.  Immediately  Otobu  sprang  for  the  fellow  and 
attempted  to  smother  his  words  by  clapping  a  palm 
over  his  mouth. 

"What  is  he  saying?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"He  is  telling  them  to  break  down  the  door  and 
rescue  him  and  the  girl  from  two  strangers  who 
entered  and  made  them  prisoners.  If  they  enter 
they  will  kill  us  all." 


OUT  OF  THE  NICHE  395 

"Tell  him,"  said  Tarzan,  "to  hold  his  peace  or 
I  will  slay  him." 

Otobu  did  as  he  was  instructed  and  the  young 
maniac  lapsed  into  scowling  silence.  Tarzan  crossed 
the  alcove  and  entered  the  outer  room  to  note  the 
effect  of  the  assaults  upon  the  door.  Smith-Oldwick 
followed  him  a  few  steps,  leaving  Otobu  to  guard  the 
two  prisoners.  The  ape-man  saw  that  the  door 
could  not  long  withstand  the  heavy  blows  being 
dealt  the  panels  from  without.  "I  wanted  to  use 
that  fellow  in  the  other  room,"  he  said  to  Smith- 
Oldwick,  "but  I  am  afraid  we  will  have  to  get  out 
of  here  the  way  we  came.  We  can't  accomplish 
anything  by  waiting  here  and  meeting  these  fellows. 
From  the  noise  out  there  there  must  be  a  dozen  of 
them.  Come,"  he  said,  "you  go  first  and  I  will 
follow." 

As  the  two  turned  back  from  the  alcove  they  wit 
nessed  an  entirely  different  scene  from  that  upon 
which  they  had  turned  their  backs  but  a  moment  or 
two  before.  Stretched  on  the  floor  and  apparently 
lifeless  lay  the  body  of  the  black  slave  while  the  two 
prisoners  had  vanished  completely. 


CHAPTER  XXIH 

THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XUJA 

S  METAK  bore  Bertha  Kircher  toward  the 
edge  of  the  pool,  the  girl  at  first  had  no  con 
ception  of  the  deed  he  contemplated  but  when,  as 
they  approached  the  edge,  he  did  not  lessen  his  speed 
she  guessed  the  frightful  truth.  As  he  leaped  head 
foremost  with  her  into  the  water,  she  closed  her 
eyes  and  breathed  a  silent  prayer,  for  she  was  con 
fident  that  the  maniac  had  no  other  purpose  than  to 
drown  himself  and  her.  And  yet,  so  potent  is  the 
first  law  of  nature  that  even  in  the  face  of  certain 
death,  as  she  surely  believed  herself,  she  clung 
tenaciously  to  life,  and  while  she  struggled  to  free 
herself  from  the  powerful  clutches  of  the  madman, 
she  held  her  breath  against  the  final  moment  when 
the  asphyxiating  waters  must  inevitably  flood  her 
lungs. 

Through  the  frightful  ordeal  she  maintained 
absolute  control  of  her  senses  so  that,  after  the  first 
plunge,  she  was  aware  that  the  man  was  swimming 
with  her  beneath  the  surface.  He  took  perhaps  not 
more  than  a  dozen  strokes  directly  toward  the  end 
wall  of  the  pool  and  then  he  arose;  and  once  again 
she  knew  that  her  head  was  above  the  surface.  She 

396 


THE  FLIGHT  TROM  XV J A  397 

opened  her  eyes  to  see  that  they  were  in  a  corridor 
dimly  lighted  by  gratings  set  in  its  roof  —  a,  winding 
corridor,  water  filled  from  wall  to  wall. 

Along  this  the  man  was  swimming  with  easy  pow 
erful  strokes,  at  the  same  time  holding  her  chin  above 
the  water.  For  ten  minutes  he  swam  thus  without 
stopping  and  the  girl  heard  him  speak  to  her, 
though  she  could  not  understand  what  he  said,  as 
he  evidently  immediately  realized,  for,  half  floating, 
he  shifted  his  hold  upon  her  so  that  he  could  touch 
her  nose  and  mouth  with  the  fingers  of  one  hand~ 
She  grasped  what  he  meant  and  immediately  took  a 
deep  breath,  whereat  he  dove  quickly  beneath  the 
surface  pulling  her  down  with  him  and  again  for 
a  dozen  strokes  or  more  he  swam  thus  wholly  sub 
merged. 

When  they  again  came  to  the  surface,  Bertha 
Kircher  saw  that  they  were  in  a  large  lagoon,  and 
that  the  bright  stars  were  shining  high  above  them, 
while  on  either  hand  domed  and  minareted  buildings 
were  silhouetted  sharply  against  the  starlit  sky. 
Metak  swam  swiftly  to  the  north  side  of  the  lagoon 
where,  by  means  of  a  ladder,  the  two  climbed  out 
upon  the  embankment.  There  were  others  in  the 
plaza  but  they  paid  but  little  if  any  attention  to  the 
two  bedraggled  figures.  As  Metak  walked  quickly 
across  the  pavement  with  the  girl  at  his  side,  Bertha 
Kircher  could  only  guess  at  the  man's  intentions. 
She  could  see  no  way  in  which  to  escape  and  so  she 
went  docilely  with  him,  hoping  against  hope  that 
some  fortuitous  circumstance  might  eventually  arise 


398  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

that  would  give  her  the  coveted  chance  for  freedom 
and  life. 

Metak  led  her  toward  a  building  which,  as  they 
entered,  she  recognized  as  the  same  to  which  she  and 
Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  had  been  led  when  they 
were  brought  into  the  city.  There  was  no  man  sit 
ting  behind  the  carved  desk  now,  but  about  the  room 
were  a  dozen  or  more  warriors  in  the  tunics  of  the 
house  to  which  they  were  attached,  in  this  case  white 
with  a  small  lion  in  the  form  of  a  crest  or  badge 
upon  the  breast  and  back  jpf  each. 

As  Metak  entered  and  the  men  recognized  him 
they  arose,  and  in  answer  to  a  query  he  put,  they 
pointed  to  an  arched  doorway  at  the  rear  of  the 
room.  Toward  this  Metak  led  the  girl  and  then,  as 
though  filled  with  a  sudden  suspicion,  his  eyes  nar 
rowed  cunningly  and  turning  toward  the  soldiery  he 
issued  an  order  which  resulted  in  their  all  preceding 
him  through  the  small  doorway  and  up  a  flight  of 
stairs  a  short  distance  beyond. 

The  stairway  and  the  corridor  above  were  lighted 
by  small  flares  which  revealed  several  doors  in  the 
walls  of  the  upper  passageway.  To  one  of  these  the 
men  led  the  prince.  Bertha  Kircher  saw  them  knock 
upon  the  door  and  heard  a  voice  reply  faintly 
through  the  thick  door  to  the  summons.  The  effect 
upon  those  about  her  was  electrical.  Instantly  ex 
citement  reigned,  and  in  response  to  orders  from  the 
king's  son  the  soldiers  commenced  to  beat  heavily 
upon  the  door,  to  throw  their  bodies  against  it  and 
to  attempt  to  hew  away  the  panels  with  their  sabers. 


THE  FLIGHT  FROtfXUJA  399 

The  girl  wondered  at  the  cause  of  the  evident  excite 
ment  of  her  captors. 

She  saw  the  door  giving  to  each  renewed  assault, 
but  what  she  did  not  see  just  before  it  crashed 
inward  was  the  figures  of  the  two  men  who  alone, 
in  all  the  world,  might  have  saved  her,  pass  between 
the  heavy  hangings  in  an  adjoining  alcove  and  dis 
appear  into  a  dark  corridor. 

As  the  door  gave  and  the  warriors  rushed  into 
the  apartment  followed  by  the  prince,  the  latter 
became  immediately  filled  with  baffled  rage,  for  the 
rooms  were  deserted  except  for  the  dead  body  of  the 
owner  of  the  palace,  and  the  still  form  of  the  black 
slare,  Otobu,  where  they  lay  stretched  upon  the  floor 
of  the  alcove. 

The  prince  rushed  to  the  windows  and  looked  out, 
but  as  the  suite  overlooked  the  barred  den  of  lions 
from  which,  the  prince  thought,  there  could  be  no 
escape,  his  puzzlement  was  only  increased.  Though 
he  searched  about  the  room  for  some  clue  to  the 
"whereabouts  of  its  former  occupants  he  did  not  dis 
cover  the  niche  behind  the  hangings.  With  the  fick- 
lenifi%  of  insanity  he  quickly  tired  of  the  search,  and, 
turning  to  the  soldiers  who  had  accompanied  him 
from  the  floor  below,  dismissed  them. 

After  setting  up  the  broken  door  as  best  they 
could,  the  men  left  the  apartment  and  when  they 
were  again  alone  Metak  turned  toward  the  girl.  As 
he  approached  her,  his  face  distorted  by  a  hideous 
leer,  his  features  worked  rapidly  in  spasmodic 
twitches.  The  girl,  who  was  standing  at  the  entrance 


400  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

of  the  alcove,  shrank  back,  her  horror  reflected  ini 
her  face.  Step  by  step  she  backed  across  the  room, 
while  the  crouching  maniac  crept  stealthily  afteu 
her  with  clawlike  fingers  poised  in  anticipation  of  the 
moment  they  should  leap  forth  and  seize  her. 

As  she  passed  the  body  of  the  Negro,  her  foot 
touched  some  obstacle  at  her  side,  and  glancing  down 
she  saw  the  spear  with  which  Otobu  had  been  sup 
posed  to  hold  the  prisoners.  Instantly  she  leaned 
forward  and  snatched  it  from  the  floor  with  its  sharp 
point  directed  at  the  body  of  the  madman.  The 
effect  upon  Metak  was  electrical.  From  stealthy 
silence  he  broke  into  harsh  peals  of  laughter,  ano? 
drawing  his  saber  danced  to  and  fro  before  the  girl, 
but  whichever  way  he  went  the  point  of  the  spear 
still  threatened  him. 

Gradually  the  girl  noticed  a  change  in  the  tone 
of  the  creature's  screams  that  was  also  reflected  itt 
the  changing  expression  upon  his  hideous  coun 
tenance.  His  hysterical  laughter  was  slowly  chang 
ing  into  cries  of  rage  while  the  silly  leer  upon  his 
face  was  supplanted  by  a  ferocious  scowl  and  up- 
curled  lips,  which  revealed  the  sharpened  <^ngsr 
beneath. 

He  now  ran  rapidly  in  almost  to  the  spear's  point, 
only  to  jump  away,  run  a  few  steps  to  one  side  and 
again  attempt  to  make  an  entrance,  the  while  he 
slashed  and  hewed  at  the  spear  with  such  violence 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  girl  maintained  her 
guard,  and  all  the  time  was  forced  to  give  ground 
step  by  step.  She  had  reached  the  point  where  she  was 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XUJA  401 

standing  squarely  against  the  couch  at  the  side  of 
the  room  when,  with  an  incredibly  swift  movement, 
Metak  stooped  and  grasping  a  low  stool  hurled  it 
directly  at  her  head. 

She  raised  the  spear  to  fend  off  the  heavy  missile, 
but  she  was  not  entirely  successful,  and  the  impact 
of  the  blow  carried  her  backward  upon  the  couch, 
and  instantly  Metak  was  upon  her. 

Tarzan  and  Smith-Oldwick  gave  little  thought  as 
to  what  had  become  of  the  other  two  occupants  of 
the  room.  They  were  gone,  and  so  far  as  these  two 
were  concerned  they  might  never  return.  Tarzan's 
one  desire  was  to  reach  the  street  again,  where,  now 
that  both  of  them  were  in  some  sort  of  disguise., 
they  should  be  able  to  proceed  with  comparative 
safety  to  the  palace  and  continue  their  search  for 
the  girl. 

Smith-Oldwick  preceded  Tarzan  along  the  cor 
ridor  and  as  they  reached  the  ladder  he  climbed  aloft 
to  remove  the  trap.  He  worked  for  a  moment  and 
then,  turning,  addressed  Tarzan. 

"Did  we  replace  the  cover  on  this  trap  when  we 
came  down?  I  don't  recall  that  we  did." 

"No,"  said  Tarzan,  "it  was  left  open." 

"So  I  thought,"  said  Smith-Oldwick,  "but  it's 
closed  now  and  locked.  I  cannot  move  it.  Possibly 
you  can,"  and  he  descended  the  ladder. 

Even  Tarzan's  immense  strength,  however,  had 
no  effect  other  than  to  break  one  of  the  rungs  of  the 
ladder  against  which  he  was  pushing,  nearly  pre- 


TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 


cipitating  him  to  the  floor  below.  After  the  rung 
broke  he  rested  for  a  moment  before  renewing  his 
efforts,  and  as  he  stood  with  his  head  near  the  cover 
of  the  trap,  he  distinctly  heard  voices  on  the  roof 
above  him. 

Dropping  down  to  Oldwick's  side  he  told  him 
what  he  had  heard.  "  We  had  better  find  some  other 
way  out,"  he  said,  and  the  two  started  to  retrace 
their  steps  toward  the  alcove.  Tarzan  was  again 
in  the  lead,  and  as  he  opened  the  door  in  the  back 
of  the  niche,  he  was  suddenly  startled  to  hear,  in. 
tones  of  terror  and  in  a  woman's  voice,  the  words: 
"O  God,  be  merciful!"  from  just  beyond  the 
hangings. 

Here  was  no  time  for  cautious  investigation  and, 
not  even  waiting  to  find  the  aperture  and  part  the 
hangings,  but  with  one  sweep  of  a  brawny  hand 
dragging  them  from  their  support,  the  ape-man 
leaped  from  the  niche  into  the  alcove. 

At  the  sound  of  his  entry  the  maniac  looked  up, 
and  as  he  saw  at  first  only  a  man  in  the  uniform 
of  his  father's  soldiers,  he  shrieked  forth  an  angry 
order,  but  at  the  second  glance  which  revealed  the 
face  of  the  newcomer  the  madman  leaped  from  the 
prostrate  form  of  his  victim  and,  apparently  for 
getful  of  the  saber  which  he  had  dropped  upon  the 
floor  beside  the  couch  as  he  leaped  to  grapple  with 
the  girl,  closed  with  bare  hands  upon  his  antagonist, 
his  sharp-filed  teeth  searching  for  the  other's  throat. 

Metak,  the  son  of  Herog,  was  no  weakling.  Pow 
erful  by  nature  and  rendered  still  more  so  in  the 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XV J A  403 

throes  of  one  of  his  maniacal  fits  of  fury  he  was  no 
mean  antagonist,  even  for  the  mighty  ape-man,  and 
to  this  a  distinct  advantage  for  him  was  added  by 
the  fact  that  almost  at  the  outset  of  their  battle 
Tarzan,  in  stepping  backward,  struck  his  heel  against 
the  corpse  of  the  man  whom  Smith-Oldwick  had 
killed,  and  fell  heavily  backward  to  the  floor  with 
Metak  upon  his  breast. 

With  the  quickness  of  a  cat  the  maniac  made  an 
attempt  to  fasten  his  teeth  in  Tarzan's  jugular,  but 
a  quick  movement  of  the  latter  resulted  in  his  find 
ing  a  hold  only  upon  the  Tarmangani's  shoulder. 
Here  he  clung  while  his  fingers  sought  Tarzan's 
throat,  and  it  was  then  that  the  ape-man,  realizing 
the  possibility  of  defeat,  called  to  Smith-Oldwick  to 
take  the  girl  and  seek  to  escape. 

The  Englishman  looked  questioningly  at  Bertha 
Kircher,  who  had  now  risen  from  the  couch,  shaking 
and  trembling.  She  saw  the  question  in  his  eyes 
and  with  an  effort  she  drew  herself  to  her  full  height. 
"No,"  she  cried,  "if  he  dies  here  I  shall  die  with 
him.  Go  if  you  wish  to.  You  can  do  nothing  here, 
but  I  —  I  cannot  go." 

Tarzan  had  now  regained  his  feet,  but  the  maniac 
still  clung  to  him  tenaciously.  The  girl  turned  sud 
denly  to  Smith-Oldwick.  "Your  pistol!"  she  cried. 
"Why  don't  you  shoot  him?" 

The  man  drew  the  weapon  from  his  pocket  and 
approached  the  two  antagonists,  but  by  this  time 
they  were  moving  so  rapidly  that  there  was  no  op 
portunity  for  shooting  one  without  the  danger  of 


404  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

hitting  the  other.  At  the  same  time  Bertha  Kircher 
circled  about  them  with  the  prince's  saber,  but 
neither  could  she  find  an  opening.  Again  and  again 
the  two  men  fell  to  the  floor,  until  presently  Tarzan 
found  a  hold  upon  the  other's  throat,  against  which 
contingency  Metak  had  been  constantly  battling,  and 
slowly,  as  the  giant  fingers  closed,  the  other's  mad 
eyes  protruded  from  his  livid  face,  his  jaws  gaped 
and  released  their  hold  upon  Tarzan's  shoulder,  and 
then  in  a  sudden  excess  of  disgust  and  rage  the  ape- 
man  lifted  the  body  of  the  prince  high  above  his 
head  and  with  all  the  strength  of  his  great  arms 
hurled  it  across  the  room  and  through  the  window 
where  it  fell  with  a  sickening  thud  into  the  pit  of 
lions  beneath. 

As  Tarzan  turned  again  toward  his  companions, 
the  girl  was  standing  with  the  saber  still  in  her 
hand  and  an  expression  upon  her  face  that  he  never 
had  seen  there  before.  Her  eyes  were  wide  and 
misty  with  unshed  tears,  while  her  sensitive  lips 
trembled  as  though  she  were  upon  the  point  of 
giving  way  to  some  pent  emotion  which  her  rapidly 
rising  and  falling  bosom  plainly  indicated  she  was 
fighting  to  control. 

"If  we  are  going  to  get  out  of  here,"  said  the 
ape-man,  "  we  can't  lose  any  time.  We  are  together 
at  last  and  nothing  can  be  gained  by  delay.  The 
question  now  is  the  safest  way.  The  couple  who 
escaped  us  evidently  departed  through  the  passage 
way  to  the  roof  and  secured  the  trap  against  us 
so  that  we  are  cut  off  in  that  direction.  What 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XUJA  405 

chance  have  we  below?  You  came  that  way,"  and 
he  turned  toward  the  girl. 

"At  the  foot  of  the  stairs,"  she  said,  "is  a  room 
full  of  armed  men.  I  doubt  if  we  could  pass  that 
way." 

It  was  then  that  Otobu  raised  himself  to  a  sitting 
posture.  "So  you  are  not  dead  after  all,"  exclaimed 
the  ape-man.  "Come,  how  badly  are  you  hurt?" 

The  Negro  rose  gingerly  to  his  feet,  moved  his 
arms  and  legs  and  felt  of  his  head. 

"  Otobu  does  not  seem  to  be  hurt  at  all,  Bwana," 
he  replied,  "  only  for  a  great  ache  in  his  head." 

"  Good,"  said  the  ape-man.  "  You  want  to  return 
to  the  Wamabo  country?" 

"Yes,  Bwana." 

"Then  lead  us  from  the  city  by  the  safest  way.** 

"There  is  no  safe  way,"  replied  the  black,  "and 
even  if  we  reach  the  gates  we  shall  have  to  fight, 
I  can  lead  you  from  this  building  to  a  side  street 
with  little  danger  of  meeting  anyone  on  the  way. 
Beyond  that  we  must  take  our  chance  of  discovery. 
You  are  all  dressed  as  are  the  people  of  this  wicked 
city  so  perhaps  we  may  pass  unnoticed,  but  at  the 
gate  it  will  be  a  different  matter  for  none  is  per 
mitted  to  leave  the  city  at  night." 

"Very  well,"  replied  the  ape-man,  "let  us  be  on 
our  way." 

Otobu  led  them  through  the  broken  door  of  the 
outer  room,  and  part  way  down  the  corridor  he 
turned  into  another  apartment  at  the  right.  This 
they  crossed  to  a  passageway  beyond  and  finally, 


406  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

traversing  several  rooms  and  corridors,  he  led  them 
down  a  flight  of  steps  to  a  door  which  opened  di 
rectly  upon  a  side  street  in  rear  of  the  palace. 

Two  men,  a  woman,  and  a  black  slave  were  not  so 
extraordinary  a* sight  upon  the  streets  of  the  city 
as  to  arouse  comment.  When  passing  beneath  the 
flares  the  three  Europeans  were  careful  to  choose 
a  moment  when  no  chance  pedestrian  might  happen 
to  get  a  view  of  their  features,  but  in  the  shadow 
of  the  arcades  there  seemed  little  danger  of  detec 
tion.  They  had  covered  a  good  portion  of  the  dis 
tance  to  the  gate  without  mishap  when  there  came 
to  their  ears  from  the  central  portion  of  the  city 
sounds*  of  a  great  commotion. 

"What  does  that  mean?"  Tarzan  asked  of  Otobu 
now  trembling  violently. 

"Master,"  he  replied,  "they  have  discovered  that 
which  has  happened  in  the  palace  of  Veza,  mayor 
of  the  city.  His  son  and  the  girl  escaped  and  sum 
moned  soldiers  who  have  now  doubtless  discovered 
the  body  of  Veza." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Tarzan,  "  if  they  have  discovered 
the  party  I  threw  through  the  window." 

Bertha  Kircher,  who  understood  enough  of  the 
dialect  to  follow  their  conversation,  asked  Tarzan 
if  he  knew  that  the  man  he  had  thrown  from  the 
window  was  the  king's  son.  The  ape-man  laughed. 
"No,"  he  said,  "I  did  not.  That  rather  compli 
cates  matters  —  at  least  if  they  have  found  him." 

Suddenly  there  broke  above  the  turmoil  behind 
them  the  clear  strains  of  a  bugle.  Otobu  increased 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XV J A  407 

his  pace.  "Hurry,  Master,"  he  cried,  "it  is  worse 
than  I  had  thought." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Tarzan. 

"  For  some  reason  the  king's  guard  and  the  king's 
lions  are  being  called  out.  I  fear,  O  Bwana,  that 
we  cannot  escape  them.  But  why  they  should  be 
called  out  for  us  I  do  not  know." 

But  if  Otobu  did  not  know,  Tarzan  at  least 
guessed  that  they  had  found  the  body  of  the  king's 
son.  Once  again  the  notes  of  the  bugle  rose  high 
and  clear  upon  the  night  air.  "  Calling  more  lions  ?  " 
asked  Tarzan. 

"  No,  Master,"  replied  Otobu.  "  It  is  the  parrots 
they  are  calling." 

They  moved  on  rapidly  in  silence  for  a  few  minutes 
when  their  attention  was  attracted  by  the  flapping 
of  the  wings  of  a  bird  above  them,  ^They  looked  up 
to  discover  a  parrot  circling  about  over  their  heads. 

"  Here  are  the  parrots,  Otobu,"  said  Tarzan  with 
a  grin.  "  Do  they  expect  to  kill  us  with  parrots  ?  " 

The  Negro  moaned  as  the  bird  darted  suddenly 
ahead  of  them  toward  the  city  wall.  "Now  indeed 
are  we  lost,  Master,"  cried  the  black.  "The  bird 
that  found  us  has  flown  to  the  gate  to  warn  the 
guard." 

"Come,  Otobu,  what  are  you  talking  about?" 
exclaimed  Tarzan  irritably.  "  Have  you  lived 
among  these  lunatics  so  long  that  you  are  yourself 
mad?" 

"No,  Master,"  replied  Otobu.  "I  am  not  mad. 
You  do  not  know  them.  These  terrible  birds  are 


408  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED *- 

like  human  beings  without  hearts  or  souls.  They 
speak  the  language  of  the  people  of  this  city  of 
Xuja.  They  are  demons,  Master,  and  when  in  suffi 
cient  numbers  they  might  even  attack  and  kill  us.'* 

"How  far  are  we  from  the  gate?"  asked  Tarzan. 

"  We  are  not  very  far,"  replied  the  Negro.  "  Be 
yond  this  next  turn  we  will  see  it  a  few  paces  ahead 
of  us.  But  the  bird  has  reached  it  before  us  and 
by  now  they  are  summoning  the  guard,"  the  truth 
of  which  statement  was  almost  immediately  indicated 
by  sounds  of  many  voices  raised  evidently  in  com 
mands  just  ahead  of  them,  while  from  behind  came 
increased  evidence  of  approaching  pursuit — loud 
screams  and  the  roars  of  lions. 

A  few  steps  ahead  a  narrow  alley  opened  from  the 
east  into  the  thoroughfare  they  were  following  and 
as  they  approached  it  there  emerged  from  its  dark 
shadows  the  figure  of  a  mighty  lion.  Otobu  halted 
in  his  tracks  and  shrank  back  against  Tarzan.. 
"  Look,  Master,"  he  whimpered,  "  a  great  black  lion 
of  the  forest!" 

Tarzan  drew  the  saber  which  still  hung  at  his 
side.  "  We  cannot  go  back,"  he  said.  "  Lions,  par 
rots,  or  men,  it  must  be  all  the  same,"  and  he  moved 
steadily  forward  in  the  direction  of  the  gate.  What 
wind  T?as  stirring  in  the  city  street  moved  from 
Tarzan  toward  the  lion  and  when  the  ape-man  had 
approached  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  beast,  who 
had  stood  silently  eyeing  them  up  to  this  time,  in 
stead  of  the  expected  roar,  a  whine  broke  from  the 
beast's  throat.  The  ape-man  was  conscious  of  a 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XUJA 


very  decided  feeling  of  relief.  "It's  Numa  of  the 
pit,"  he  called  back  to  his  companions,  and  to  Otobu, 
"Do  not  fear,  this  lion  will  not  harm  us.'* 

Numa  moved  forward  to  the  ape-man's  side  and 
then  turning,  paced  beside  him  along  the  narrow 
street.  At  the  next  turn  they  came  in  sight  of  the 
gate  where,  beneath  several  flares,  they  saw  a  group 
of  at  least  twenty  warriors  prepared  to  seize  them, 
while  from  the  opposite  direction  the  roars  of  the 
pursuing  lions  sounded  close  upon  them  mingling 
with  the  screams  of  numerous  parrots  which  now 
circled  about  their  heads.  Tarzan  halted  and  turned 
to  the  young  aviator.  "  How  many  rounds  of  am 
munition  have  you  left  ?  "  he  asked. 

"I  have  seven  in  the  pistol,"  replied  Smith-Old- 
wick,  "and  perhaps  a  dozen  more  cartridges  in  my 
blouse  pocket." 

"  I'm  going  to  rush  them,"  said  Tarzan.  "  Otobu, 
you  stay  at  the  side  of  the  woman.  Oldwick  you 
and  I  will  go  ahead,  you  upon  my  left.  I  think  we 
need  not  try  to  tell  Numa  what  to  do,"  for  even  then 
the  great  lion  was  baring  his  fangs  and  growling 
ferociously  at  the  guardsmen,  who  appeared  uneasy 
in  the  face  of  this  creature  which,  above  all  others, 
they  feared. 

"As  we  advance,  Oldwick,"  said  the  ape-man,  "  fire 
one  shot.  It  may  frighten  them  ;  and  after  that  fire 
only  when  necessary.  All  ready?  Let's  go!"  and 
he  moved  forward  toward  the  gate.  At  the  same  time 
Smith-Oldwick  discharged  his  weapon  and  a  yellow- 
coated  warrior  screamed  and  crumpled  forward  upon 


410  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

^^ — — •-••—••—  »•» 

his  face.  For  a  minute  the  others  showed  symptoms 
of  panic  but  one,  who  seemed  to  be  an  officer,  rallied 
them.  "Now,"  said  Tarzan,  "  all  together ! "  and  he 
started  at  a  run  for  the  gate.  Simultaneously  the 
lion,  evidently  scenting  the  purpose  of  the  Tarman- 
gajii,  broke  into  a  full  charge  toward  the  guard. 

Shaken  by  the  report  of  the  unfamiliar  weapon, 
the  ranks  of  the  guardsmen  broke  before  the  furious 
assault  of  the  great  beast.  The  officer  screamed 
forth  a  volley  of  commands  in  a  mad  fury  of  un 
controlled  rage  but  the  guardsmen,  obeying  the  first 
law  of  nature  as  well  as  actuated  by  their  inherent 
fear  of  the  black  denizen  of  the  forest,  scattered  to 
right  and  left  to  elude  the  monster.  With  ferocious 
growls  Numa  wheeled  to  the  right,  and  with  raking 
talons  struck  right  and  left  among  a  little  handfiJ 
of  terrified  guardsmen  who  were  endeavoring  to  eludt 
him,  and  then  Tarzan  and  Smith-Oldwick  closed 
with  the  others. 

For  a  moment  their  most  formidable  antagonist 
was  the  officer  in  command.  He  wielded  his  curved 
saber  as  only  an  adept  might  as  he  faced  Tarzan, 
to  whom  the  similar  weapon  in  his  own  hand  was 
most  unfamiliar.  Smith-Oldwick  could  not  fire  for 
fear  of  hitting  the  ape-man  when  suddenly  to  his 
dismay  he  saw  Tarzan's  weapon  fly  from  his  grasp 
as  the  Xujan  warrior  neatly  disarmed  his  opponent. 
With  a  scream  the  fellow  raised  his  saber  for  the 
final  cut  that  would  terminate  the  earthly  career 
of  Tarzan  of  the  Apes  when,  to  the  astonishment 
of  both  the  ape-man  and  Smith-Oldwick,  the  fellow 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XUJA  411 

stiffened  rigidly,  his  weapon  dropped  from  the  nerve 
less  fingers  of  his  upraised  hand,  his  mad  eyes  rolled 
upward  and  foam  flecked  his  bared  lip.  Gasping  as 
though  in  the  throes  of  strangulation  the  fellow 
pitched  forward  at  Tarzan's  feet. 

Tarzan  stooped  and  picked  up  the  dead  man's 
weapon,  a  smile  upon  his  face  as  he  turned  and 
glanced  toward  the  young  Englishman. 

"The  fellow  is  an  epileptic,"  said  Smith-Oldwick. 
"I  suppose  many  of  them  are.  Their  nervous  con 
dition  is  not  without  its  good  points- — a  normal 
man  would  have  gotten  you." 

The  other  guardsmen  seemed  utterly  demoralized 
at  the  loss  of  their  leader.  They  were  huddled  upon 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street  at  the  left  of  the 
gate,  screaming  at  the  tops  of  their  voices  and 
looking  in  the  direction  from  which  sounds  of  rein 
forcements  were  coming,  as  though  urging  on  the 
men  and  lions  that  were  already  too  close  for  the 
comfort  of  the  fugitives.  Six  guardsmen  still  stood 
with  their  backs  against  the  gate,  their  weapons 
flashing  in  the  light  of  the  flares  and  their  parch 
ment-like  faces  distorted  in  horrid  grimaces  of  rage 
and  terror. 

Numa  had  pursued  two  fleeing  warriors  down  the 
street  which  paralleled  the  wall  for  a  short  distance 
at  this  point.  The  ape-man  turned  to  Smith-Old 
wick.  "You  will  have  to  use  your  pistol  now," 
he  said,  "  and  we  must  get  by  these  fellows  at  once ; " 
and  as  the  young  Englishman  fired,  Tarzan  rushed 
in  to  close  quarters  as  though  he  had  not  already 


412  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

discovered  that  with  the  saber  he  was  no  match 
for  these  trained  swordsmen.  Two  men  fell  to  Smith- 
Oldwick's  first  two  shots  and  then  he  missed,  while 
the  four  remaining  divided,  two  leaping  for  the  avia 
tor  and  two  for  Tarzan. 

The  ape-man  rushed  in  in  an  effort  to  close  with 
one  of  his  antagonists  where  the  other's  saber  would 
be  comparatively  useless.  Smith-Oldwick  dropped 
one  of  his  assailants  with  a  bullet  through  the  chest 
and  pulled  his  trigger  on  the  second,  only  to  have 
the  hammer  fall  futilely  upon  an  empty  chamber. 
The  cartridges  in  his  weapon  were  exhausted  and 
the  warrior  with  his  razor-edged,  gleaming  saber 
was  upon  him. 

Tarzan  raised  his  own  weapon  but  once  and  that 
to  divert  a  vicious  cut  for  his  head.  Then  he  was 
upon  one  of  his  assailants  and  before  the  fellow  could 
regain  his  equilibrium  and  leap  back  after  delivering 
his  cut,  the  ape-man  had  seized  him  by  the  neck  and 
crotch.  Tarzan's  other  antagonist  was  edging 
around  to  one  side  where  he  might  use  his  weapon, 
and  as  he  raised  the  blade  to  strike  at  the  back 
of  the  Tarmangani's  neck,  the  latter  swung  the  body 
of  his  comrade  upward  so  that  it  received  the  full 
force  of  the  blow.  The  blade  sank  deep  into  the 
body  of  the  warrior,  eliciting  a  single  frightful 
scream,  and  then  Tarzan  hurled  the  dying  man  in 
the  face  of  his  final  adversary. 

Smith-Oldwick,  hard  pressed  and  now  utterly  de 
fenseless,  had  given  up  all  hope  in  the  instant  that 
he  realized  his  weapon  was  empty,  when,  from  his 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XV J A  413 

left,  a  living  bolt  of  black-maned  ferocity  shot  past 
him  to  the  breast  of  his  opponent.  Down  went  the 
Xujan,  his  face  bitten  away  by  one  snap  of  the 
powerful  jaws  of  Numa  of  the  pit. 

In  the  few  seconds  that  had  been  required  for  the 
consummation  of  these  rapidly  ensuing  events,  Otobu 
had  dragged  Bertha  Kircher  to  the  gate  which  he 
had  unbarred  and  thrown  open,  and  with  the  van 
quishing  of  the  last  of  the  active  guardsmen,  the 
party  passed  out  of  the  maniac  city  of  Xuja  into 
the  outer  darkness  beyond.  At  the  same  moment 
a  half  dozen  lions  rounded  the  last  turn  in  the  road 
leading  back  toward  the  plaza,  and  at  sight  of  them 
Numa  of  the  pit  wheeled  and  charged.  For  a  mo 
ment  the  lions  of  the  city  stood  their  ground,  but 
only  for  a  moment,  and  then  before  the  black  beast 
was  upon  them,  they  turned  and  fled,  while  Tarzan 
and  his  party  moved  rapidly  toward  the  blackness 
of  the  forest  beyond  the  garden. 

"Will  they  follow  us  out  of  the  city?"  Tarzan 
asked  Otobu. 

"Not  at  night,"  replied  the  black.  "I  have  been 
a  slave  here  for  five  years  but  never  have  I  known 
these  people  to  leave  the  city  by  night.  If  they  go 
beyond  the  forest  in  the  daytime  they  usually  wait 
until  the  dawn  of  another  day  before  they  return  as 
they  fear  to  pass  through  the  country  of  the  black 
lions  after  dark.  No,  I  think,  Master,  that  they 
will  not  foHow  us  tonight,  but  tomorrow  they  will 
come,  and,  O  Bwana,  then  will  they  surely  get  us, 
or  those  that  arfe  left  of  us,  for  at  least  one  among 


414  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

us  must  be  the  toll  of  the  black  lions  as  we  pass 
through  their  forest." 

As  they  crossed  the  garden,  Smith-Oldwick  re 
filled  the  magazine  of  his  pistol  and  inserted  a 
cartridge  in  the  chamber.  The  girl  moved  silently 
at  Tarzan's  left,  between  him  and  the  aviator.  Sud 
denly  the  ape-man  stopped  and  turned  toward  the 
city,  his  mighty  frame,  clothed  in  the  yellow  tunic 
of  Herog's  soldiery,  plainly  visible  to  the  others  be 
neath  the  light  of  the  stars.  They  saw  him  raise 
his  head  and  they  heard  break  from  his  lips  the 
plaintive  note  of  a  lion  calling  to  his  fellows.  Smith- 
Oldwick  felt  a  distinct  shudder  pass  through  his 
frame,  while  Otobu,  rolling  the  whites  of  his  eyes 
in  terrified  surprise,  sank  tremblingly  to  his  knees. 
But  the  girl  thrilled  and  she  felt  her  heart  beat  in 
a  strange  exultation,  and  then  she  drew  nearer  to 
the  beast-man  until  her  shoulder  touched  his  arm. 
The  act  was  involuntary  and  for  a  moment  she  scarce 
realized  what  she  had  done,  and  then  she  stepped 
silently  back,  thankful  that  the  light  of  the  stars 
was  not  sufficient  to  reveal  to  the  eyes  of  her  com 
panions  the  flush  which  she  felt  mantling  her  cheek. 
Yet  she  was  not  ashamed  of  the  impulse  that  had 
prompted  her,  but  rather  of  the  act  itself  which  she 
knew,  had  Tarzan  noticed  it,  would  have  been  re 
pulsive  to  him. 

From  the  open  gate  of  the  city  of  maniacs  came 
the  answering  cry  of  a  lion.  The  little  group  waited 
where  they  stood  until  presently  they  saw  the  ma 
jestic  proportions  of  the  black  lion  as  he  approached 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  XV J A  415 

them  along  the  trail.  When  he  had  rejoined  them 
Tarzan  fastened  the  fingers  of  one  hand  in  the  black 
mane  and  started  on  once  more  toward  the  forest. 
Behind  them,  from  the  city,  rose  a  bedlam  of  horrid 
sounds,  the  roaring  of  lions  mingling  with  the  rau 
cous  voices  of  the  screaming  parrots  and  the  mad 
shrieks  of  the  maniacs.  As  they  entered  the  Stygian 
darkness  of  the  forest  the  girl  once  again  involun 
tarily  shrank  closer  to  the  ape-man,  and  this  time 
Tarzan  was  aware  of  the  contact. 

Himself  without  fear,  he  yet  instinctively  appre 
ciated  how  terrified  the  girl  must  be.  Actuated  by  a 
sudden  kindly  impulse  he  found  her  hand  and  took  it 
in  his  own  and  thus  they  continued  upon  their  way, 
groping  through  the  blackness  of  the  trail.  Twice 
they  were  approached  by  forest  lions,  but  upon  both 
occasions  the  deep  growls  of  Numa  of  the  pit  drove 
off  their  assailants.  Several  times  they  were  com 
pelled  to  rest,  for  Smith-Oldwick  was  constantly 
upon  the  verge  of  exhaustion,  and  toward  morning 
Tarzan  was  forced  to  carry  him  on  the  steep  ascent 
from  the  bed  of  the  valley. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  TOMMIES 

DAYLIGHT  overtook  them  after  they  had  en 
tered  the  gorge  but  tired  as  they  all  were,  with 
the  exception  of  Tarzan,  they  realized  that  they  must 
keep  on  at  all  costs  until  they  found  a  spot  where 
they  might  ascend  the  precipitous  side  of  the  gorge 
to  the  floor  of  the  plateau  above.  Tarzan  and  Otobu 
were  both  equally  confident  that  the  Xujans  would 
not  follow  them  beyond  the  gorge,  but  though  they 
scanned  every  inch  of  the  frowning  cliffs  upon  either 
hand  noon  came  and  there  was  still  no  indication  of 
any  avenue  of  escape  to  right  or  left.  There  were 
places  where  the  ape-man  alone  might  have  nego 
tiated  the  ascent  but  none  where  the  others  could 
hope  successfully  to  reach  the  plateau,  nor  where 
Tarzan,  powerful  and  agile  as  he  was,  could  have 
ventured  safely  to  carry  them  aloft. 

For  half  a  day  the  ape-man  had  been  either  carry 
ing  or  supporting  Smith-Oldwick  and  now,  to  his 
chagrin,  he  saw  that  the  girl  was  faltering.  He  had 
realized  well  how  much  she  had  undergone  and  how 
greatly  the  hardships  and  dangers  and  the  fatigue 
of  the  past  weeks  must  have  told  upon  her  vitality. 

He  saw  how  bravely  she  attempted  to  keep  up,  yet 

416 


THE  TOMMIES  417 

• 

how  often  she  stumbled  and  staggered  as  she  labored 
through  the  sand  and  gravel  of  the  gorge.  Nor 
could  he  help  but  admire  her  fortitude  and  the  un 
complaining  effort  she  was  making  to  push  on. 

The  Englishman  must  have  noticed  her  condition 
too,  for  some  time  after  noon  he  stopped  suddenly 
and  sat  down  in  the  sand.  *'  It's  no  use,"  he  said  to 
Tarzan,  "I  can  go  no  farther.  Miss  Kircher  is 
rapidly  weakening.  You  will  have  to  go  on  with 
out  me." 

"No,"  said  the  girl,  "we  cannot  do  that.  We 
have  all  been  through  so  much  together  and  the 
chances  of  our  escape  are  still  so  remote  that  what 
ever  comes,  let  us  remain  together,  unless,"  and  sh« 
looked  up  at  Tarzan,  "  you,  who  have  done  so  much 
for  us,  to  whom  you  are  under  no  obligation,  will  go 
on  without  us.  I  for  one  wish  that  you  would.  It 
must  be  as  evident  to  you  as  it  is  to  me  that 
you  cannot  save  us,  for  though  you  succeeded  in 
dragging  us  from  the  path  of  our  pursuers,  even 
your  great  strength  and  endurance  could  never 
take  one  of  us  across  the  desert  waste  which  lies 
between  here  and  the  nearest  fertile  country." 

The  ape-man  returned  her  serious  look  with  a 
smile.  "  You  are  not  dead,"  he  said  to  her,  "  nor  is 
the  lieutenant,  nor  Otobu,  nor  myself.  One  is  either 
dead  or  alive,  and  until  we  are  dead  we  should  plan 
only  upon  continuing  to  live.  Because  we  remain 
here  and  rest  is  no  indication  that  we  shall  die  here. 
I  cannot  carry  you  both  to  the  country  of  the 
Wamabos,  which  is  the  nearest  spot  at  which  we 


418  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

may  expect  to  find  game  and  water,  but  we  shall 
not  give  up  on  that  account.  So  far  we  have  found 
a  way.  Let  us  take  things  as  they  come.  Let  us 
rest  now  because  you  and  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick 
need  the  rest,  and  when  you  are  stronger  we  will  go 
on  again.'* 

"But  the  Xujans — ?"  she  asked,  "may  they  not 
follow  us  here  ?  " 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "they  probably  will.  But  we 
need  not  be  concerned  with  them  until  they  come." 

"I  wish,"  said  the  girl,  "that  I  possessed  your 
philosophy  but  I  am  afraid  it  is  beyond  me." 

"You  were  not  born  and  reared  in  the  jungle  by 
wild  beasts  and  among  wild  beasts,  or  you  would 
possess,  as  I  do,  the  fatalism  of  the  jungle." 

And  so  they  moved  to  the  side  of  the  gorge  be 
neath  the  shade  of  an  overhanging  rock  and  lay 
down  in  the  hot  sand  to  rest.  Numa  wandered  rest 
lessly  to  and  fro  and  finally,  after  sprawling  for 
a  moment  close  beside  the  ape-man,  rose  and  moved 
off  up  the  gorge  to  be  lost  to  view  a  moment  later 
beyond  the  nearest  turn. 

For  an  hour  the  little  party  rested  and  then  Tar- 
zan  suddenly  rose  and  motioning  the  others  to 
silence,  listened.  For  a  minute  he  stood  motionless, 
his  keen  ears  acutely  receptive  to  sounds  so  faint 
and  distant  that  none  of  the  other  three  could  detect 
the  slightest  break  in  the  utter  and  deathlike  quiet 
of  the  gorge.  Finally  the  ape-man  relaxed  and 
turned  toward  them.  "What  is  it?"  asked  the  girl. 

"They  are  coming,"  he  replied.     "They  are  yet 


THE  TOMMIES  419 

some  distance  away,  though  not  far  for  the  sandaled 
feet  of  the  men  and  the  pads  of  the  lions  make 
little  noise  upon  the  soft  sands." 

"What  shall  we  do — try  to  go  on?"  asked 
Smith-Oldwick.  "I  believe  I  could  make  a  go  of  it 
now  for  a  short  way.  I  am  much  rested.  How  about 
you  Miss  Kircher?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  said,  "  I  am  much  stronger.  Yes*, 
surely  I  •  an  go  on." 

Tarzan  knew  that  neither  of  them  quite  spoke  the 
truth,  that  people  do  not  recover  so  quickly  from 
utter  exhaustion,  but  he  saw  no  other  way  and 
there  was  always  the  hope  that  just  beyond  the 
next  turn  would  be  a  way  out  of  the  gorge. 

"You  help  the  lieutenant,  Otobu,"  he  said,  turn 
ing  to  the  black,  "and  I  will  carry  Miss  Kircher," 
and  though  the  girl  objected,  saying  that  he  must 
not  waste  his  strength,  he  lifted  her  lightly  in  his 
arms  and  moved  off  up  the  canyon,  followed  by 
Otobu  and  the  Englishman.  They  had  gone  no 
great  distance  when  the  others  of  the  party  be 
came  aware  of  the  sounds  of  pursuit,  for  now  the 
lions  were  whining  as  though  the  fresh  scent  spoor 
of  their  quarry  had  reached  their  nostrils. 

"I  wish  that  your  Numa  would  return,"  said  the 
girl. 

"Yes,"  said  Tarzan,  "but  we  shall  have  to  do 
the  best  we  can  without  him.  I  should  like  to  find 
some  place  where  we  can  barricade  ourselves  against 
attack  from  all  sides.  Possibly  then  we  might  hold 
them  off.  Smith-Oldwick  is  a  good  shot  and  if  there 


420  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

are  not  too  many  men  he  might  be  able  to  dispose  of 
them  provided  they  can  only  come  at  him  one  at  a 
time.  The  lions  don't  bother  me  so  much.  Some 
times  they  are  stupid  animals,  and  I  am  sure  that 
these  that  pursue  us,  and  who  are  so  dependent 
upon  the  masters  that  have  raised  and  trained  them, 
\vill  be  easily  handled  after  the  warriors  are  dis 
posed  of.'* 

"You  think  there  is  some  hope,  then?"  she  asked. 

"We  are  still  alive,"  was  his  only  answer. 

"  There,"  he  said  presently,  "  I  thought  I  recalled 
this  very  spot."  He  pointed  toward  a  fragment  that 
had  evidently  fallen  from  the  summit  of  the  cliff 
and  which  now  lay  imbedded  in  the  sand  a  few  feet 
from  the  base.  It  was  a  jagged  fragment  of  rock 
which  rose  some  ten  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
sand,  leaving  a  narrow  aperture  between  it  and  the 
cliff  behind.  Toward  this  they  directed  their  steps 
and  when  finally  they  reached  their  goal  they  found 
a  space  about  two  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  long  be 
tween  the  rock  and  the  cliff.  To  be  sure  it  was 
open  at  both  ends  but  at  least  they  could  not  be 
attacked  upon  all  sides  at  once. 

They  had  scarcely  concealed  themselves  before 
Tarzan's  quick  ears  caught  a  sound  upon  the  face 
of  the  cliff  above  them,  and  looking  up  he  saw  a 
diminutive  monkey  perched  upon  a  slight  projection 
—  an  ugly- faced  little  monkey  who  looked  down  upon 
them  for  a  moment  and  then  scampered  away  toward 
the  south  in  the  direction  from  which  their  pursuers 
were  coming.  Otobu  had  seen  the  monkey  too.  "  He 


THE  TOMMIES 421 

will  tell  the  parrots,"  said  the  black,  "  and  the  par 
rots  will  tell  the  madmen." 

"It  is  all  the  same,"  replied  Tarzan;  "the  lions 
would  have  found  us  here.  We  could  not  hope  to 
hide  from  them." 

He  placed  Smith-Oldwick,  with  his  pistol,  at  the 
north  opening  of  their  haven  and  told  Otobu  to 
stand  with  his  spear  at  the  Englishman's  shoulder, 
while  he  himself  prepared  to  guard  the  southern  ap 
proach.  Between  them  he  had  the  girl  lie  down  in 
the  sand.  "  You  will  be  safe  there  in  the  event  that 
they  use  their  spears,"  he  said. 

The  minutes  that  dragged  by  seemed  veritable 
eternities  to  Bertha  Kircher  and  then  at  last,  and 
almost  with  relief,*  she  knew  that  the  pursuers  were 
upon  them.  She  heard  the  angry  roaring  of  the 
lions  and  the  cries  of  the  madmen.  For  several 
minutes  the  men  seemed  to  be  investigating  the 
stronghold  which  their  quarry  had  discovered.  She 
could  hear  them  both  to  the  north  and  south  and 
then  from  where  she  lay  she  saw  a  lion  charging 
for  the  ape-man  before  her.  She  saw  the  giant  arm 
swing  back  with  the  curved  saber  and  she  saw  it  fall 
with  terrific  velocity  and  meet  the  lion  as  he  rose 
to  grapple  with  the  man,  cleaving  his  skull  as  cleanly 
as  a  butcher  opens  up  a  sheep. 

Then  she  heard  footsteps  running  rapidly  toward 
Smith-Oldwick  and,  as  his  pistol  spoke,  there  was  a 
scream  and  the  sound  of  a  falling  body.  Evidently 
disheartened  by  the  failure  of  their  first  attempt 
the  assaulters  drew  off,  but  only  for  a  short  time* 


422  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Again  they  came,  this  time  a  man  opposing  Tarzan 
and  a  lion  seeking  to  overcome  Smith-Oldwick.  Tar 
zan  had  cautioned  the  young  Englishman  not  to 
waste  his  cartridges  upon  the  lions  and  it  was  Otobu 
with  the  Xujan  spear  who  met  the  beast,  which  was 
not  subdued  until  both  he  and  Smith-Oldwick  had 
been  mauled,  and  the  latter  had  succeeded  in  running 
the  point  of  the  saber  the  girl  had  carried,  into  the 
beast's  heart.  The  man  who  opposed  Tarzan  inad 
vertently  came  too  close  in  an  attempt  to  cut  at  the 
ape-man's  head,  with  the  result  that  an  instant  later 
his  corpse  lay  with  the  neck  broken  upon  the  body 
of  the  lion. 

Once  again  the  enemy  withdrew,  but  again  only 
for  a  short  time,  and  now  they  came  in  full  force, 
the  lions  and  the  men,  possibly  a  half  dozen  of  each,, 
the  men  casting  their  spears  and  the  lions  waiting 
just  behind,  evidently  for  the  signal  to  charge. 

"Is  this  the  end?"  asked  the  girl. 

"  No,"  cried  the  ape-man,  "  for  we  still  live ! " 

The  words  had  scarcely  passed  his  lips  when  the 
remaining  warriors,  rushing  in,  cast  their  spears 
simultaneously  from  both  sides.  In  attempting  to 
shield  the  girl,  Tarzan  received  one  of  the  shafts 
in  the  shoulder,  and  so  heavily  had  the  weapon  been 
hurled  that  it  bore  him  backward  to  the  ground. 
Smith-Oldwick  fired  his  pistol  twice  when  he  too  was 
struck  down,  the  weapon  entering  his  right  leg  mid 
way  between  hip  and  knee.  Only  Otobu  remained  to 
face  the  enemy,  for  the  Englishman,  already  weak 
from  his  wounds  and  from  the  latest  mauling  he  ha4 


THE  TOMMIES  423 

received  at  the  claws  of  the  lion,  had  lost  conscious 
ness  as  he  sank  to  the  ground  with  this  new  hurt. 

As  he  fell  his  pistol  dropped  from  his  fingers  and 
the  girl  seeing  snatched  it  up.  As  Tarzan  struggled 
to  arise,  one  of  the  warriors  leaped  full  upon  his 
breast  and  bore  him  back  as,  with  fiendish  shrieks, 
he  raised  the  point  of  his  saber  above  the  other's 
heart.  Before  he  could  drive  it  home  the  girl  leveled 
Smith-Oldwick's  pistol  and  fired  point-blank  at  the 
fiend's  face. 

Simultaneously  there  broke  upon  the  astonished 
ears  of  both  attackers  and  attacked,  a  volley  of  shots 
from  the  gorge.  With  the  sweetness  of  the  voice 
of  an  angel  from  heaven  the  Europeans  heard  the 
sharp-barked  commands  of  an  English  non-com. 
Even  above  the  roars  of  the  lions  and  the  screams 
of  the  maniacs,  those  beloved  tones  reached  the  ears 
of  Tarzan  and  the  girl  at  the  very  moment  that  even 
the  ape-man  had  given  up  the  last  vestige  of  hope. 

Rolling  the  body  of  the  warrior  to  one  side  Tarzan 
struggled  to  his  feet,  the  spear  still  protruding  from 
his  shoulder.  The  girl  rose  too,  and  as  Tarzan 
wrenched  the  weapon  from  his  flesh  and  stepped  out 
from  behind  the  concealment  of  their  refuge,  she  fol 
lowed  at  his  side.  The  skirmish  that  had  resulted 
in  their  rescue  was  soon  over.  Most  of  the  lions  es 
caped  but  all  of  the  pursuing  Xujans  had  been  slain.  - 
As  Tarzan  and  the  girl  came  into  full  view  of  the 
group,  a  British  Tommy  leveled  his  rifle  at  the  ape- 
man.  Seeing  the  fellow's  actions  and  realizing  in 
stantly  the  natural  error  that  Tarzan's  yellow  tuniq 


424  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

had  occasioned  the  girl  sprang  between  him  and  the 
soldier.  "  Don't  shoot,"  she  cried  to  the  latter,  "  we 
are  both  friends." 

"  Hold  up  your  hands,  you,  then,"  he  commanded 
Tarzan.  "  I  ain't  taking  no  chances  with  any  duffer 
with  a  yellow  shirt." 

At  this  juncture  the  British  sergeant  who  had 
been  in  command  of  the  advance  guard  approached 
and  when  Tarzan  and  the  girl  spoke  to  him  in  Eng- 
iisn,  explaining  their  disguises,  he  accepted  their 
word,  since  they  were  evidently  not  of  the  same  race 
as  the  creatures  which  lay  dead  about  them.  Ten 
minutes  later  the  main  body  of  the  expedition  came 
into  view.  Smith-Oldwick's  wounds  were  dressed,  as 
well  as  were  those  of  the  ape-man,  and  in  half  an 
hour  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  camp  of  their 
rescuers. 

That  night  it  was  arranged  that  the  following  day 
Smith-Oldwick  and  Bertha  Kircher  should  be  trans 
ported  to  British  headquarters  near  the  coast  by 
aeroplane,  the  two  planes  attached  to  the  expedi 
tionary  force  being  requisitioned  for  the  purpose. 
Tarzan  and  Otobu  declined  the  offers  of  the  British 
captain  to  accompany  his  force  overland  on  the  re 
turn  march  as  Tarzan  explained  that  his  country 
lay  to  the  west,  as  did  Otobu's,  and  that  they  would 
travel  together  as  far  as  the  country  of  the 
Wamabos. 

"  You  are  not  going  back  with  us,  then  ?  "  asked 
the  girl. 

"No,"  replied  the  ape-man.     "My  home  is  upon 


THE  TOMMIES 425 

the  west  coast.  I  will  continue  my  journey  in  that 
direction." 

She  cast  appealing  eyes  toward  him.  "You  will 
»,go  back  into  that  terrible  jungle?  "  she  asked.  "  We 
'  shall  never  see  you  again  ?  " 

He  looked  at  her  a  moment  in  silence.  "Never," 
he  said,  and  without  another  word  turned  and  walked 
away. 

In  the  morning  Colonel  Capell  came  from  the  base 
camp  in  one  of  the  planes  that  was  to  carry  Smith- 
Oldwick  and  the  girl  to  the  east.  Tarzan  was  stand 
ing  some  distance  away  as  the  ship  landed  and  the 
officer  descended  to  the  ground.  He  saw  the  colonel 
greet  his  junior  in  command  of  the  advance  detach 
ment,  and  then  he  saw  him  turn  toward  Bertha 
Kircher  who  was  standing  a  few  paces  behind  the 
captain.  Tarzan  wondered  how  the  German  spy 
felt  in  this  situation,  especially  when  she  must  know 
that  there  was  one  there  who  knew  her  real  status. 
He  saw  Colonel  Capell  walk  toward  her  with  out 
stretched  hands  and  smiling  face  and,  although  he 
could  not  hear  the  words  of  his  greeting,  he  saw 
that  it  was  friendly  and  cordial  to  a  degree. 

Tarzan  turned  away  scowling,  and  if  any  had 
been  close  by  they  might  have  heard  a  low  growl 
rumble  from  his  chest.  He  knew  that  his  country 
was  at  war  with  Germany  and  that  not  only  his 
duty  to  the  land  of  his  fathers,  but  also  his  personal 
grievance  against  the  enemy  people  and  his  hatred 
of  them,  demanded  that  he  expose  the  girl's  perfidy, 
and  yet  he  hesitated,  and  because  he  hesitated  he 


426  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

growled  —  not  at  the  German  spy  but  at  himself 
for  his  weakness. 

He  did  not  see  her  again  before  she  entered  a 
plane  and  was  borne  away  toward  the  east.  He  bid 
farewell  to  Smith-Oldwick  and  received  again  the  oft- 
repeated  thanks  of  the  young  Englishman.  And 
then  he  saw  him  too  borne  aloft  in  the  high  circling 
plane  and  watched  until  the  ship  became  a  speck 
far  above  the  eastern  horizon  to  disappear  at  last 
high  in  air. 

The  Tommies,  their  packs  and  accouterments 
slung,  were  waiting  the  summons  to  continue  their 
return  march.  Colonel  Capell  had,  through  a  desire 
to  personally  observe  the  stretch  of  country  between 
the  camp  of  the  advance  detachment  and  the  base, 
decided  to  march  back  with  his  troops.  Now  that 
all  was  in  readiness  for  departure  he  turned  to  Tar- 
zan.  "I  wish  you  would  come  back  with  us,  Grey- 
stoke,"  he  said,  "and  if  my  appeal  carries  no 
inducement  possibly  that  of  Smith-Oldwick  and  the 
young  lady  who  just  left  us  may.  They  asked  me 
to  urge  you  to  return  to  civilization." 

"No,"  said  Tarzan,  "I  shall  go  my  OTT2  way. 
Miss  Kircher  and  Lieutenant  Smith-Oldwick  were 
only  prompted  by  a  sense  of  gratitude  in  consider 
ing  my  welfare." 

"Miss  Kircher?"  exclaimed  Capell  and  then  he 
laughed.  "You  know  her  then  as  Bertha  Kircher, 
the  German  spy  ?  " 

Tarzan  looked  at  the  other  a  moment  in  silence. 
It  was  beyond  him  to  conceive  that  a  British  officer 


THE  TOMMIES  427 

should  thus  laconically  speak  of  an  enemy  spy  whom 
he  had  had  within  his  power  and  permitted  to  es 
cape.  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  knew  that  she  was 
Bertha  Kircher,  the  German  spy." 

"Is  that  all  you  knew?"  asked  Capell. 

"That  is  all,"  said  the  ape-man. 

"  She  is  the  Honorable  Patricia  Canby,"  said 
Capell;  "one  of  the  most  valuable  members  of  the 
British  Intelligence  Service  attached  to  the  East 
African  forces.  Her  father  and  I  served  in  India 
together  and  I  have  known  her  ever  since  she  was 
born. 

"Why  here's  a  packet  of  papers  she  took  from  a 
German  officer  and  has  been  carrying  it  through  all 
her  vicissitudes  —  single-minded  in  the  performance 
of  her  duty.  Look!  I  haven't  yet  had  time  to  ex 
amine  them  but  as  you  see  here  is  a  military  sketch 
map,  a  bundle  of  reports,  and  the  diary  of  one 
Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider." 

"  The  diary  of  Hauptmann  Fritz  Schneider ! "  re 
peated  Tarzan  in  a  constrained  voice.  "May  I  see 
it,  Capell?  He  is  the  man  who  murdered  Lady 
Greystoke." 

The  Englishman  handed  the  little  volume  over  to 
the  other  without  a  word.  Tarzan  ran  through  the 
pages  quickly  looking  for  a  certain  date  —  the  date 
that  the  horror  had  been  committed — 'and  when  he 
found  it  he  read  rapidly.  Suddenly  a  gasp  of  in 
credulity  burst  from  his  lips.  Capell  looked  at  him 
questioningly. 

"God!"  exclaimed  the  ape-man.     "Can  this  be 


428  TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

true?  Listen!"  and  he  read  an  excerpt  from  the 
closely  written  page: 

"'Played  a  little  joke  on  the  English  pig.  iWhen 
he  comes  home  he  will  find  the  burned  body  of  his 
wife  in  her  boudoir  —  but  he  will  only  think  it  is  his 
wife.  Had  von  Goss  substitute  the  body  of  a  dead 
Negress  and  char  it  after  putting  Lady  Greystoke's 
rings  on  it  —  Lady  G  will  be  of  more  value  to  the 
High  Command  alive  than  dead.'" 

"She  lives!"  cried  Tarzan. 

"Thank  God!"  exclaimed  Capell.     "And  now?" 

"I  will  return  with  you,  of  course.  How  terribly 
I  have  wronged  Miss  Canby,  but  how  could  I  know? 
I  even  told  Smith-Oldwick  who  loves  her,  that  she 
was  a  German  spy. 

"Not  only  must  I  return  to  find  my  wife  but  I 
must  right  this  wrong." 

"  Don't  worry  about  that,"  said  Capell,  "  she  must 
have  convinced  him  that  she  is  no  enemy  spy,  for 
just  before  they  left  this  morning  he  told  me  she 
had  promised  to  inarry^  him.3" 


"The  Books  You  Like  to  Read 
at  the  Price  You  Like  to  Pay" 


There  Are  Two  Sides 
to  Everything — 

— including  the  wrapper  •which  covers 
ever/  Grosset  &  Dunlap  book.  When 
you  feel  in  the  mood  for  a  good  ro- 
mance}  refer  to  the  carefully  selected  list 
of  modern  fiction  comprising  most  of 
the  successes  by  prominent  writers  of 
the  day  which  is  printed  on  the  back  of 
every  Grosset  &  Dunlap  book  wrapper. 

You  will  find  more  than  five  hundred 
titles  to  choose  from — books  for  every 
mood  and  every  taste  and  every  pocket- 
book. 

Don't  forget  the  other  side,  but  in  case 
the  wrapper  is  lost,  write  to  the  -publishers 
for  a  complete  catalog. 


There  is  a  Grosset  &  Duntaft  Book 
for  every  mood  and  for  every  taste 


EDGAR  RICE  BURROUGHS 
NOVELS 

May  be  had  whertver  books  are  sold.      Ask  for  Grossat  &  Dunlap's  list 

TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tells  of  Tarzan'  s  return  to  the  life  of  the  ape-man  in 
his  search  for  vengeance  on  those  who  took  from  him  his 
wife  and  home. 

JUNGLE  TALES  OF  TARZAN 

Records  the  many  wonderful  exploits  by  which  Tarzan  t 
proves  his  right  to  ape  kingship. 

A  PRINCESS  OF  MARS 

Forty-three  million  miles  from  the  earth — a  succession 
of  the  weirdest  and  most  astounding  adventures  in  fiction. 
John  Carter,  American,  finds  himself  on  the  planet  Mars, 
battling  for  a  beautiful  woman,  with  the  Green  Men  of 
Mars,  terrible  creatures  fifteen  feet  high,  mounted  on 
horses  like  dragons. 

THE  GODS  OF  MARS 

Continuing  John  Carter' s  adventures  on  the  Planet  Mars, 
in  which  he  does  battle  against  the  ferocious  "plant  men/* 
creatures  whose  mighty  tails  swished  their  victims  to  instant 
death,  and  defies  Issus,  the  terrible  Goddess  of  Death, 
whom  all  Mars  worships  and  reveres. 

THE  WARLORD  OF  MARS 

Old  acquaintances,  made  in  the  two  other  stories,  reap 
pear,  Tars  Tarkas,  Tardos  Mors  and  others.  There  is  a 
happy  ending  to  the  story  in  the  union  of  the  Warlord, 
the  title  conferred  upon  John  Carter,  with  Dejah  Thoris. 

THUVIA.  MAID  OF  MARS 

The  fourth  volume  of  the  series.     The  story  centers 
around  the  adventures  of  Carthoris,  the  son  of  John  Car- i 
cer  and  Thuvia,  daughter  of  a  Martian  Emperor. 

GROgSETJjg  DUNLAP.  PUBLISHERS.  NEW  YORK 


JAMES   OLIVER  CURWOOD'S 

STORIES  OF  ADVENTURE 

May  be  had  wherever  books  are  sold.      Ask  for  Grossat  &  Dunlap's  list 

THE  RIVER'S  END~ 

A  story  of  the  Royal  Mounted  Police. 
THE  GOLDEN  SNARE 

Thrilling  adventures  in  the  Far  Northland. 
NOMADS  OF  THE  NORTH 

The  story  of  a  bear-cub  and  a  dog. 
KAZAN 

The  tale  of  a  "quarter-strain  wolf  and  tr^ee-quarters  husky"  torn 
between  the  call  of  the  human  and  his  wild  mate. 

BAREE,  SON  OF  KAZAN 

The  story  of  the  son  of  the  blind  Grey  Wolf  and  the  gallant  part 
he  played  in  the  lives  of  a  man  and  a  woman. 

THE  COURAGE  OF  CAPTAIN  PLUM 

The  story  of  the  King  of  Beaver  Island,  »  Mormon  colony,  and  his 
battle  with  Captain  Plum. 

THE  DANGER  TRAIL 

A  tale  of  love,  Indian  vengeance,  and  a  n*ystery  of  the  North. 
THE  HUNTED  WOMAN 

A  tale  of  a  great  fight  in  the  "  valley  of  g&A  "  for  a  woman. 
THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  NORTH 

The  story  of  Fort  o'  God,  where  the  wild  flnror  of  the  wilderness 
is  blended  with  the  courtly  atmosphere  of  Franc*. 

THE  GRIZZLY  KING 

The  story  of  Thor,  the  big  grizzly. 
I5OBEL 

A  love  story  of  the  Far  North. 
THE  WOLF  HUNTERS 

A  thrilling  tale  of  adventure  in  the  Canadian  wilderness. 
THE  GOLD  HUNTERS 

The  story  of  adventure  in  the  Hudson  Bay  wilds. 
THE  COURAGE  OF  MARGE  O'DOONE 

Filled  with  exciting  incidents  in  the  land  of  strong  men  and  women. 
BACK  TO  GOD'S  COUNTRY 

A  thrilling  story  of  the  Far  North.  The  great  Photoplay  was  made 
from  this  book. 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,         NEW  YORK 


ZANE  GREY'S  NOVELS 

May  be  had  wherever  books  ira  sold.     Ask  for  Grosset  ft  Duntap's  list. 

THE  MAN  OF  THE  FOREST 
THE  DESERT  OF  WHEAT* 
THE  U.  P.  TRAIL 
WILDFIRE 

THE  BORDER  LEGIONT 
THE  RAINBOW  TRAIL 
THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  DESERT 
RIDERS   OF  THE  PURPLE  SAGE 
THE  LIGHT  OF  WESTERN  STARS 
THE  LAST  OF  THE  PLAINSMEN 
THE  LONE  STAR  RANGER 
DESERT  GOLD 
BETTY  ZANE 

[*  ****[•  'V 

LAST  OF  THE  GREAT  SCOUTS 

The  life  story  of  "Buffalo  Bill"  by  his  sister  Helen  Cody 
Wetmore,  with  Foreword  and  conclusion  by  Zane  Grey,  j 

ZANE  GREY'S  BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 

KEN  WARD  IN  THE  JUNGLE 
THE  YOUNG  LION  HUNTER 
THE  YOUNG  FORESTER 

THE  YOUNG  PITCHER  I 

THE  SHORT  STOP 

THE  RED-HEADED  OUTFIELD  AND  OTHER 
BASEBALL  STORIES 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,         PUBLISHERS,         NEW  YORK 


RUBY  M.   AYRE'S    NOVELS 

May  be  had  wherever  books  are  sold.      Ask  for  Grosset  &  Dunlap's  list 

RICHARD  CHATTERTON 

A  fascinating  story  in  which  love  and  jealousy  play 
strange  tricks  with  women's  souls. 

A  BACHELOR  HUSBAND 

Can  a  woman  love  two  men  at  the  same  time? 

In  its  solving  of  this  particular  variety  of  triangle  "  A 
Bachelor  Husband  "  will  particularly  interest,  and  strangely 
enough,  without  one  shock  to  the  most  conventional  minded. 

THE  SCAR 

With  fine  comprehension  and  insight  the  author  shows  a 
terrific  contrast  between  the  woman  whose  love  was  of  the 
flesh  and  one  whose  love  was  of  the  spirit. 

THE  MARRIAGE  OF  BARRY  WICKLOW 

Here  is  a  man  and  woman  who,  marrying  for  love,  yet  try 
to  build  their  wedded  life  upon  a  gospel  of  hate  for  each 
other  and  yet  win  back  to  a  greater  love  for  each  other  in 
the  end. 

THE  UPHILL  ROAD 

The  heroine  of  this  story  was  a  consort  of  thieves.  The 
man  was  fine,  clean,  fresh  from  the  West.  It  is  a  story  of 
strength  and  passion. 

WINDS  OF  THE  WORLD 

Jill,  a  poor  little  typist,  marries  the  great  Henry  Sturgess 
and  inherits  millions,  but  not  happiness.  Then  at  last — but 
we  must  leave  that  to  Ruby  M.  Ayres  to  tell  you  as  only 
she  can. 

THE  SECOND  HONEYMOON 

In  this  story  the  author  has  produced  a  book  which  no 
one  who  has  loved  or  hopes  to  love  can  afford  to  miss. 
The  story  fairly  leaps  from  climax  to  climax. 

THE  PHANTOM  LOVER 

Have  you  not  often  heard  of  someone  being  in  love  with 
love  rather  than  the  person  they  believed  the  object  of  their 
affections  ?  That  was  Esther !  But  she  passes  through  the 
crisis  into  a  deep  and  profound  love. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,         PUBLISHERS,         NEW  YORK 


FLORENCE  L.  BARCLAY'S 
NOVELS 

May  be  had  wherever  books  are  sold.      Ask  for  Grotset  &  Dunlap't  list. 

THE  WHITE  LADIES  OF  WORCESTER 

A  novel  of  the  12th  Century.  The  heroine,  believing  she 
had  lost  her  lover,  enters  a  convent.  He  returns,  and  in 
teresting  developments  follow. 

THE  UPAS  TREE 

A  love  story  of  rare  charm.    It  deals  with  a  successful  - 
author  and  his  wife. 

THROUGH  THE  POSTERN  GATE 

The  story  of  a  seven  day  courtship,  in  which  the  dis 
crepancy  in  ages  vanished  into  insignificance  before  the 
convincing  demonstration  of  abiding  love. 

THE  ROSARY 

The  story  of  a  young  artist  who  is  reputed  to  love  beauty 
above  all  else  in  the  world,  but  who,  when  blinded  through 
an  accident,  gains  life's  greatest  happiness.  A  rare  story 
of  the  great  passion  of  two  real  people  superbly  capable  of 
love,  its  sacrifices  and  its  exceeding  reward. 

THE  MISTRESS  OF  SHENSTONE 

The  lovely  young  Lady  Ingleby,  recently  widowed  by  the 
death  of  a  husband  who  never  understood  her,  meets  a  fine, 
clean  young  chap  who  is  ignorant  of  her  title  and  they  fall 
deeply  in  love  with  each  other.  When  he  learns  her  real 
identity  a  situation  of  singular  power  is  developed. 

THE  BROKEN  HALO 

The  story  of  a  young  man  whose  religious  belief  was 
shattered  in  childhood  and  restored  to  him  by  the  little 
white  lady,  many  years  older  than  himself ,  to  whom  he  is 
passionately  devoted. 

THE  FOLLOWING  OF  THE  STAR  v 

The  story  of  a  young  missionary,  who,  about  to  start  for 
Africa,  marries  wealthy  Diana  Rivers,  in  order  to  help  her 
fulfill  the  conditions  of  her  uncle's  will,  and  how  they  finally 
come  to  love  each  other  and  are  reunited  after  experiences 
that  soften  and  purify. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,        NEW  YORK 


ETHEL    M.    DELL'S    NOVELS 

May  be  had  wherever  books  are  sold.     Ask  for  Grosset  &  Dxnlap's  list 

THE  LAMP  IN  THE  DESERT 

The  scene  of  this  splendid  story  is  laid  in  India  and 
tells  of  the  lamp  of  love  that  continues  to  shine  through 
all  sorts  of  tribulations  to  final  happiness. 

GREATHEART 

The  story  of  a  cripple  whose  deformed  body  conceal? 
a  noble  soul. 

THE  HUNDREDTH  CHANCE 

A  hero  who  worked  to  win  even  when  there  was  only 
"  a  hundredth  chance." 

THE  SWINDLER 

The  story  of  a  "bad  man's"  soul  revealed  by  a 
woman's  faith. 

THE  TIDAL  WAVE 


Tales  of  love  and  of  women  who  learned  to  know  the 
true  from  the  false. 

THE  SAFETY  CURTAIN 


A  very  vivid  love  story  of  India.       The  volume  also 
contains  four  other  long  stories  of  equal  interest. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,         NEW  YORK 


ELEANOR  H.  PORTER'S  NOVELS 

May  be  had  wherever  books  are  sold.        Ask  for  Grosset  &  Dunlap's  list 

FUST  DAVID 

The  tale  of  a  loveable  boy  and  the  place  he  comes  to 
fill  in  the  hearts  of  the  gruff  farmer  folk  to  whose  care  be 
is  left. 

THE  ROAD  TO  UNDERSTANDING 

A  compelling  romance  of  love  and  marriage. 
OH,  MONEY  !   MONEY  ! 

Stanley  Fulton,  a  wealthy  bachelor,  to  test  the  dispose 
tions  of  his  relatives,  sends  them  each  a  check  for  $100,- 
000,  and  then  as  plain  John  Smith  comes  among  them  to 
watch  the  result  of  his  experimeat. 

SIX  STAR  RANCH 

A  wholesome  story  of  a  club  of  six  girls  and  their  sum 
mer  on  Six  Star  Ranch. 

DAWN 

The  story  of  a  blind  boy  whose  courage  leads  him 
through  the  gulf  of  despair  into  a  final  victory  gained  by 
dedicating  his  life  to  the  service  of  blind  soldiers. 

ACROSS  THE  YEARS 

Short  stories  of  our  own  kind  and  of  our  own  people. 
Contains  some  of  the  best  writing  Mrs.  Porter  has  done. 

THE  TANGLED  THREADS 

In  these  stories  we  find  the  concentrated  charm  and 
tenderness  of  all  her  other  books. 

THE  TIE  THAT  BINDS 

Intensely  human  stories  told  with  Mrs.  Porter's  wonr- 
derful  talent  for  warm  and  vivid  character  drawing. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,        NEW  YORK 


KATHLEEN   NORRIS'  STORIES 

May  ba  had  whatever  books  are  sold.        Ask  for  Grosset  &  Dunlap's  list 

SISTERS.  Frontispiece  by  Frank  Street. 

The  California  P.edwoods  furnish  the  background  for  this 
beautiful  story  of  sisterly  devotion  and  sacrifice. 

POOR,  DEAR.  MARGARET  KIRBY. 
Frontispiece  by  George  Gibbs. 

A  collection  of  delightful  stories,  including  "Bridging  the 
V"ears"  and  "The  Tide-Marsh."  This  story  is  now  shown  in 
moving  pictures. 

JOSSELYN'S  WIFE.  Frontispiece  by  C.  Allan  Gilbert. 

The  story  of  a  beautiful  woman  who  fought  a  bitter  fight  tor 
happiness  and  love. 

MARTIE,  THE  UNCONQUERED. 
Illustrated  by  Charles  E.  Chambers. 
The  triumph  of  a  dauntless  spirit  over  adverse  conditions. 

THE  HEART  OF  RACHAEL. 
Frontispiece  by  Charles  E.  Chambers. 

An  interesting  story  oi  divorce  and  the  problems  that  come 
with  a  second  marriage. 

THE  STORY  OF  JULIA  PAGE. 
Frontispiece  by  C.  Allan  Gilbert. 

A  sympathetic  portrayal  of  the  quest  of  a  normal  girl,  obscure 
.And  lonely,  for  the  happiness  of  life. 

SATURDAY'S  CHILD.    Frontispiece  by  F.  Graham  Cootes. 

Can  a  girl,  born  in  rather  sordid  conditions,  lift  herself  through 
iheer  determination  to  the  better  things  for  which  her  soul 
hungered  ? 

MOTHER.    Illustrated  by  F.  C.  Yohn. 

A  story  of  the  big  mother  heart  that  beats  in  the  background 
of  every  girl's  life,  and  some  dreams  which  came  true. 

Ask  for  Complete  free  list  of  G.    &  D.    Popular  Copyrighted  Fiction 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,          PUBLISHERS,          NEW  YORK 


THE  NOVELS  OF 

MARY  ROBERTS    RINEHART 

May  be  had  wherever  boohs  are  sold.    Ask  for  Brosset  t  Duirtsp's  list. 

DANGEROUS  DAYS. 

A  brilliant  story  of  married  life.  A  romance  of  fine  purpose  and 
stirring  appeal. 

THE  AMAZING  INTERLUDE. 

Illustrations  by  The  Kinneys. 

The  story  of  a  great  love  which  cannot  be  pictured— an  interlude 
—•amazing,  romantic. 

LOVE  STORIES. 

This  book  is  exactly  what  its  title  indicates,  a  collection  of  lovfc 
affairs— sparkling  with  humor,  tenderness  and  sweetness. 

"K."   Illustrated. 

K.  LeMoyne,  famous  surgeon,  goes  to  live  in  a  little  towr  where 
beautifu'  Sidney  Page  lives.  She  is  in  training  to  become  a  narse. 
The  joys  and  troubles  of  their  young  love  are  cold  with  keen  and 
sympathetic  appreciation. 

THE  MAN  IN  LOWER  TEN. 

Illustrated  by  Howard  Chandler  Christy. 

An  absorbing  detective  story  woven  around  the  ity^terious  death 
of  the  "  Man  in  Lower  Ten." 

WHEN  A  MAN  MARRIES. 

Illustrated  by  Harrison  Fisher  and  Mayo  Bunker. 

A  young  artist,  whose  wife  had  recently  divorced  him,  finds  that 
his  aunt  is  soon  to  visit  him.  The  aunt,  who  contributes  to  the 
family  income,  knows  nothing  of  the  domestic  upheaval.  How  the 
young  man  met  the  situation  is  entertainingly  told. 

THE  CIRCULAR  STAIRCASE.  Illustrated  by  Lester  Ralph. 

The  occupants  of  "Sunnyside"  find  the  dead  body  of  Arnold 
Armstrong  on  the  circular  staircase.  Following  the  murder  a  bank 
failure  is  announced.  Around  these  two  events  is  woven  a  plot  of 
absorbing  interest. 

THE  STREET  OF  SEVEN  STARS.  (Photoplay  Edition.) 

Harmony  Wells,  studying  in  Vienna  to  be  a  great  violinist,  sud. 
denly  realizes  that  her  money  is  almost  gone.  She  meets  a  young 
ambitious  doctor  who  offers  her  chivalry  and  sympathy,  and  together 
with  world- worn  Dr.  Anna  and  Jimmie,  the  waif,  they  share  their 
love  and  slender  means. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,         PUBLISHERS,         NEW  YORK 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  UBWRYFACIU" 


